By Ali Sibai for SMEX
Published onPage last updated on
This year, governments in the Middle East and North Africa have continued to shut down and throttle the internet during grade and high school examinations. So far, governments in Jordan, Syria, Algeria, and Sudan have disrupted the internet during examinations. We call on governments across the region to refrain from restricting access to the internet during examinations and violating people’s right to access the internet.
This phenomenon began in 2015, when Syria and Iraq shutdown the internet during end-of-the-year baccalaureate exams, Algeria followed suit in 2016, and Mauritania joined the club just one year later. This year, Sudan’s new government elected to disrupt the internet during exams as well. These states justify the shutdown as a method to prevent cheating, but exam questions still get leaked and offline cheating methods are widespread. Moreover, these disruptions hurt the economy and restrict people’s right to communicate freely.
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