KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: The Education Ministry had distributed secondary school certificates to students of both Science and Art streams on Thu-rsday, but the results were so dismal that a large number of parents stormed the ministry office to express their resentment, reports Al-Rai daily.
The parents claimed that the ministry deliberately set difficult question papers for two reasons: firstly, in retaliation against the demonstrations students staged earlier and secondly, because there are not enough seats in government universities to accommodate all students.
Sources said the parents could not meet any ministry official and were forced to leave the scene.
Furthermore, referring to rumors that the exams will be held again, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education Affairs Mona Al-Loghani said neither the exams will be conducted again, nor will the papers be re-corrected. She added that the exams were held in proper manner and there was nothing wrong in the mechanism at all.
She called on parents not to pay attention to such rumors and said only students who could not take exams due to medical reasons will be allowed to take them at a later date.

Concern
The Kuwait Teachers Society has expressed concern over lack of transparency in announcing results of second semester exams, reports Al-Rai daily.
The society claimed that the results were not declared in the official manner, “which reflects hesitance and a desire to avoid direct announcement. Under such circumstances, there will be more doubts about the credibility of the exam process and this could lead to more complaints from students and their parents.”
The society attributed the problem to complete reliance on external instructors who set question papers without considering the students’ level. Moreover, it said, these people are away from the teaching field since many years.
The society said the teacher’s role in this case is marginalized. “It is important for the teacher to participate in the setting of question paper because he/she best knows the capacity of students,” noted the society.
Users Al-Seyassah website have sent more than 500 comments on the recent difficult secondary examination question papers, reports the daily.
The users, most of them students, say the exam papers were higher than the student level.
According to them the Ministry of Education has deliberately tried to reduce the pass percentage for fear it may not be able to accommodate all students in the university.
The students complain the ministry has shattered their dreams of studying at a university.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmad Al-Mulaifi, accompanied by the Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education Mona Al-Loghani, paid a surprise visit to the examinations control department and had a conversation with the concerned officials over the pass percentage in the science and arts examination, reports Al-Shahed daily.
A source informed the minister was shocked to hear the percentage of success was very low following which he is said to have asked for a detailed report on the reason for this downward trend.
The source said a senior official in the ministry allegedly urged journalists covering the visit to publish a news report to indicate the minister was pleased with the visit and the pass percentage was similar to the previous year.
The source indicated the issue of high number of failures has become a major issue in the country especially that questions set for the students did not cover the curricula.
He alleged those who set the question papers have toyed with the curricula. He disclosed the ministry blamed the technical supervisory departments for setting difficult questions.