12 June 2013
Fifteen national secondary school exams were stolen from the Ibn Ghaldoun Islamic school in Rotterdam.
With last week’s initial discovery of one stolen exam the national French exam was cancelled, and 17,000 pupils across the country had to retake a new version of the exam the following day.
After this incident a further 14 exams went missing from Ibn Ghaldoun. It is unlikely that students will retake exams nationwide, as the Education Ministry believes that these exams have not been distributed to pupils of other schools. However the city of Rotterdam has suspended its diploma presentations until the end of June while the issue is under investigation. Students have been given until Friday evening to admit to having viewed a stolen exam.
Three Ibn Ghaldoun students have been arrested in connection with the theft. Police say there was no sign of a break-in. However the Education Ministry says that there is no reason to believe that school management is involved, and rector Bart Renders insists he is “almost 100 per cent sure” teachers are not involved in the theft.
