Isna Secondary Diploma College, in the Isna area of south Luxor, has announced its decision to expel hundreds of students from all three years of the school program before they have finished sitting their exams.
The decision follows the practical examination phase, when it was discovered that many pupils had exceeded the permitted amount of absences for this academic year. The offending students were expelled before sitting the theory exams for their diploma qualifications in technical subjects.
Abdel Ruouf al-Tariky, the father of one of the expelled students, said that the school’s decision took him completely by surprise. His son will now be transferred to a different school and will be entered into a different subject area to that which he has been studying for two years. He will sit two years’ worth of catch-up exams in the new subject in July.
This, said Tariky, is in accordance with a law released by the Education Ministry last Wednesday stating that students transferring departments must take exams in the summer following their transfer. Prior to this law, students would be made to re-sit the entire academic year.
Tariky said that around 800 students were expelled, 400 of whom were in their second year. The father objected to the fact that his son, along with many others, is facing a transfer to a new subject area, despite having completed a successful year and a terms’ worth of study in his previous school.
In addition to the fact that these students will now have to take double the amount of exams in the summer, they are being put into the department of manual skilled labour, which was not their choice of study.
The parents of the expelled students have expressed their resentment at the decision, particularly since they have been informed that they will have to pay LE300 in school fees for their children’s new studies.
Taha Bakheet, secretary for the Education Ministry in Luxor governorate, has expressed his surprise at the number of students expelled, confirming that he was unaware of the issue within the school prior to this large-scale expulsion.
He has asked that parents of the expelled students send a letter of complaint so that official action can be taken in the matter.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
