The Student Selection and Placement Center, or ÖSYM, has sent an apology email to students in İzmir after incorrect booklets were distributed during a recent exam, yet the country’s president still expressed unease with developments.
The 500 students who sat the higher education license exam, or ALES, for the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at İzmir’s Dokuz Eylül University were unable to start the test at the scheduled time, 9:30 a.m., due to printing errors identified in their exam booklets, such as missing questions and disorganized pages. The exam’s monitors tried to replace the incorrect booklets but did not have enough reserves. They asked a neighboring university, Manisa’s Celal Bayar University, for extra booklets but were unable to supply them to all the students.
In response, ÖSYM sent a letter to the affected students, assuring test-takers that the issue was under investigation.
President Abdullah Gül told reporters on Monday that following the exam scandals, the idea that everyone was equal, whether the child of the prime minister or an ordinary citizen, was damaged, and that this was very upsetting to him.
“After this point, the judiciary will decide whether or not discrimination was at play,” added Gül.
Commenting on the issue, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said it was a great deficiency for the ÖSYM not to provide students with enough booklets to replace inaccurate ones.
The e-mail, sent out by ÖSYM head Professor Ali Demir, said the issue stemmed from a “printing mistake” and added that an investigation had been launched into the matter.
In a separate written statement on Sunday, ÖSYM also clarified that the mistakes in printing only affected a few of the booklets and was not a widespread problem.
Meanwhile, Arınç said recent exam scandals were bothersome prior to the elections “if ulterior motives are present.”
“If a crime was committed, those responsible must be subject to the heaviest of punishments. If such an unforgivable crime was committed, they must be punished so that our children can be at ease and prepare for their exams,” said Arınç in Bursa, referring to last month’s “code scandal” on the university placement exam, or YGS.
“The problem on Sunday was different. There is no cheating or codes involved. It is something that could happen any time. There were not enough exam booklets for all the students. This occurrence is a great deficiency during the ALES exam. The futures of these young people are in question. The exam-takers who worked with such spirit should not be left disappointed,” said Arınç.
“Resigning can’t even save the head of ÖSYM,” said Republican People´s Party, or CHP, deputy leader Engin Altay.
Issuing a written statement Monday, Altay said he had “no trust left in ÖSYM” and that the latest ALES scandal “was the last straw for ÖSYM.”
“What matters is not to take over an institution, but to administer it well. The AKP brought in someone with their temperament to be ÖSYM’s head, but now new scandals are breaking loose with each exam,” said Altay.
The booklets were reportedly printed by Meteksan, the printing house that was recently involved in a scandal regarding allegations of a “code” for the YGS, which took place March 27.
