This week from Monday to Wednesday a total of 1.27 million grade 10 students have taken national exam in Ethiopia, forcing the nation to shut down the Internet and text messaging – SMS services.
The internet and SMS services were cut following the information that students have been circulated stolen answers of the exams. Starting Thursday over 300,000 grade 12 students have also been taking national examination. The Internet and SMS services are all interrupted. It is expected that the service might not resume until the exam ends on Tuesday.
For the past few years Ethiopia has been cutting the internet for national exams to stop the speared of stolen answers of the exams. Except some international organizations such as, the UN agencies, the African Union, internet and SMS services are down all over the country.
Next week grade 8 students in Ethiopia are also expected to take their national exams. It is not clear if the authorities will continue to shut down the internet and SMS services