Prosecutor to investigate latest test cheating claims

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

ÖSYM head Ali Demir has been in the center of the cheating accusations. AA photo

One day after the announcement that the results of this year’s Judges’ and Prosecutors’ Selection Exam have been declared void and that it will be repeated, a prosecutor’s office in Ankara has opened an investigation into claims of cheating.

On Aug. 5 the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office requested all the data and documents related to the May 6, 2011 exam from Turkey’s Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM). It was announced Sept. 4 that the exam will be repeated.

Ongoing investigation
There is already an ongoing investigation, which was opened into the 2010 Public Personnel Selection Examination, or KPSS, also administered by the ÖSYM.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Atilla Kart filed a criminal complaint on July 3, 2012, claiming that the exam questions were given to some candidates before the exam. The complaint named Justice Ministry and ÖSYM authorities as suspects.

The exam results of four married couples were revealed to be identical, and it was revealed that they had solved the math questions without making notes, according to a statement from the ÖSYM. It has not yet been determined how the questions were leaked.

“There is no concrete evidence [of cheating]. We canceled the exam for security reasons,” the ÖSYM said regarding the decision.

Under normal circumstances, results on the exam are expected to be concentrated in the region just over 70 points, which is the minimum passing grade. However, after declaring that there was no concrete evidence of cheating, the ÖSYM also found that in 2012 the concentration of scores occurred at 80 points and higher. Among the students ranking in the first 50 places, 26 scored 85 and above, while they had scored lower than 70 on the 2011 exam. Although no concrete evidence of cheating was found, because the ÖSYM Administrative Board’s principle is not to permit a situation which may cause dispute or suspicion of the exam’s security and results, it was decided to repeat it with an equivalent exam.