Ministry of Education readies twelfth-grade exam committees

• The key challenges faced by the Ministry of Educaiton include introducing multiple exam models for twelfth graders, implementing external rotation for committee chairs, and employing jamming the devices to mitigate electronic fraud.

As the Ministry of Education’s educational districts prepare examination committees for twelfth-grade year-end tests, Hessa Al-Mutawa, the Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education, outlined necessary pre-committee formation procedures.

The procedures included stipulations that the committee head not work at their original site, no interchange between committee heads at different locations, and the middle school committee head selected for the twelfth-grade examinations should hold an assistant director position in the secondary stage.

Additionally, individuals with learners in the twelfth grade, up to the first or second degree, should not be assigned to examination committees, with an assistant principal taking the place of the school principal if necessary.

The procedures also involved assigning a member of the supervisory body with titles such as senior technical mentor, technical mentor, school principal, or assistant school principal as a resident observer, in accordance with their designated tasks. Additionally, headquarters for the second round of secondary school classes were established at four boys’ schools and four girls’ schools. This included the assignment of chairs and members of examination conduct committees, as well as members of grading committees for tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades in the second round.

Recommendations and proposals

Additionally, informed sources disclosed to Al-Rai newspaper the challenges currently hindering the Ministry of Education’s implementation of certain recommendations and proposals put forth by the anti-cheating team established by Ministerial Resolution No. 167/2023.

The key challenges include introducing multiple exam models for twelfth graders, implementing external rotation for committee chairs, and employing jamming the devices to mitigate electronic fraud.

The sources indicated that the technical guidance body was not tasked with preparing any additional models beyond the annual ones (a model for general education, religious education, and the second round), along with their backup copies. They emphasized that the team’s recommendation was to develop various models and implement them, resulting in three or four different models in each committee. This would virtually eliminate cheating among students.

The sources then discussed the second recommendation: external rotation. The anti-fraud team suggested making this a standard practice rather than an exception. They explained that this measure faced dissatisfaction among several committee heads in the previous year. Many of them requested exemptions from their assignments due to the distance between their residences and the educational areas to which they were assigned.

Regarding the third recommendation (jamming devices), the sources mentioned that the Ministry of Health rejected using these devices in examination committees due to potential health risks for some students. They indicated that the Ministry of Education contacted them three times regarding the use of low-pressure devices that do not impact students’ health. However, the Ministry of Health has yet to resolve the issue or approve the use of such devices.

School funds closing deadline on March 31

The Ministry of Education has established March 31 of next year as the deadline for closing the financial fund for schools. Cash amounts exceeding 50 dinars are not to be retained, and they must be deposited into the fund’s account before the end of the financial year.

Dr. Adel Al-Adwani, the Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, has issued a decision appointing Mansour Al-Dhafiri, the Assistant Undersecretary for Special and Specific Education, to fulfill the duties of the Ministry of Education’s Undersecretary effective May 13 until Mansour Al-Daihani returns from an official mission.