Sudan: Authorities cut internet to prevent students from cheating

The Sudanese authorities interrupted internet connection for three hours on Wednesday, while students sat their high school exams, allegedly to prevent them from cheating.

The Zain Group, one of the telecommunication companies providing internet services in Sudan, sent a message to its customers at dawn on Wednesday stating: “Upon the direction of the judicial authorities, the internet connection will be suspended daily during exams for the Diploma of Secondary Education, from 8:00 am until 11 am.”

Anadolu Agency‘s correspondent disclosed that wireless internet access was already interrupted at 8 am, although it was still operating in offices, institutions and homes.

The wireless internet access progressively restarted after 11 am, once the students had completed their exams.

Last Sunday, 541,000 students in Sudan began their high school diploma exams in various subjects.

Cutting internet access during high school exams is a frequent measure taken to prevent cheating in some Arab countries, including Iraq and Algeria.

These countries complained about the fact that some internet users leaked the exam questions within minutes of distributing the exam papers to students, in addition to circulating the answers online.

READ: Algeria cuts internet to prevent students cheating in exams