The Algerian education minister says the Algerian government is taking the “extreme measure” of temporarily suspending the entire country’s internet connection during national high school exams to stop cheating and the leaking of answers.
Nouria Benghabrit told Algerian national radio that the internet, including social networks such as Facebook, will be blocked for the first hour of each baccalaureate exam during the June 20-25 exam period.
The decision comes after massive online leaks of the baccalaureate, the last mandatory high school exam, in the previous two years.
Benghabrit said that “we have put in place a technical device that consists of suspending the internet connection and block social networks from Wednesday to prevent the leaking of baccalaureate subjects.” Cell phone jammers are also being installed at each examination centre.
The measures are set to cause considerable disruption, with authorities targeting internet service providers, mobile network operators and VPN services that allow users to access the internet via proxy servers using a false identity.
