Furore over high university entrance exam failure

Afghan education officials have become embroiled in controversy after a record number of students failed the national university entry examinations last week, reports Frud Bezhan for Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty.

Afghan students accused the Higher Education Ministry, which determines university placement, of fraud and discrimination, insisting that as many as 60,000 of them failed purely on the basis of their ethnicity and mother language. Many said that most of the students who failed come from the country's south and east, a tribal region dominated by Pashtuns.

Students from rural areas claim that they received sufficient grades to pass but have been failed by examiners, who have refused to explain their reasons or marking criteria.

Other students are adamant that their test scores were higher than some students in urban centres who were granted university places – leading to allegations of special treatment and corruption.
Full report on the Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty site