EGYPT: University in turmoil over exam failures

Hundreds of students at Helwan University, one of Egypt's 18 public universities, staged protests on the campus south of Cairo after they flunked first-term examinations. The protesters, mostly final year students in the faculties of law and commerce, accused professors of being unfair. The law dean resigned in protest when a university committee amended marks to allow students to pass.

Ahmed Youssri, a final year law student, said a professor of civil law had vowed not to allow students to pass the examination, to punish some for using mobile phones during lectures. "This is unfair. Why should we be collectively punished for the misbehaviour of some irresponsible students?" Youssri asked.

Another law student, Mahmoud Hamed, said: "Many students did not pass this subject although they got high marks in other subjects." This indicated that marking of the exam had not been conducted properly, he added.

During angry protests, the students claimed favouritism and demanded that lecturers be "medically and psychologically" examined before being allowed to teach.

"Check-ups will ensure that lecturers are in good physical and mental shape to do an efficient job instead of persecuting students," said a law student who gave her name only as Faten. "Lecturers often make buying their books a condition for passing their subjects. These books are unaffordable for many students, who have no option but to use inexpensive study aids instead."

Under Egypt's university regulations, professors have the right to mark the answer sheets of their students. But in cases of complaints from students, examination committees can re-evaluate the answer sheets to decide if students deserve to pass.

The poor results in the law and commerce faculties have thrown Helwan University into turmoil and made local headlines. The university's board held a crisis meeting at which it was agreed to amend the controversial results to ensure students would pass.

Decrying the decision as unlawful, Mohamed Younis, dean of the law faculty, resigned in protest.

"The university's board has no power to do this," said Younis. He added that the poor results in certain subjects reflected the low standards of the students.

"Those students do not care about attending lectures. Instead they depend on study aids which are illegally sold outside the campus. They seek success effortlessly, which is a serious phenomenon posing a threat to ... academic life."

Meanwhile, the decision by the Helwan board to amend the results has also developed into a legal battle. Ibrahim Tantawi, a professor of criminal law at the university, said he would go to court to demand the decision be scrapped.

"This decision is null and void as the board includes some members who are not authorised to make such a decision," Tantawi explained. "How can inefficient law students make good attorneys in the future?"

To Sherif Wasfi, a member of the university board, the decision is "legal and sound. The board is responsible for running the university's affairs and promoting its students' welfare," he said.

"Lecturers are not infallible. They can err while correcting answer sheets. What matters most is to correct these mistakes before it is too late. The decision is wise, especially as the students in question are in the final year of their studies and should not be hampered from starting a career after graduation."

Denying that the poor results had exposed a serious problem in his institution, Halwan University President Abdullah Barakat said the answer sheets were re-marked by an ad-hoc evaluation committee which found that "a very small percentage of students, estimated at 1% of the overall number of examinees, deserved to get nil for failing to answer any question."