Turkey: Students Blame Government for University Entrance Exam Scandal

A majority of Turkish people polled in a recent survey has said they believe the government bears the responsibility for the cheating crisis that has erupted around the university entrance exam, or YGS.

The results of the survey by MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center were released as the country awaited a possible judicial decision on the test.

Some 56.2 percent of those surveyed said the government held the responsibility for the cheating scandal on the exam, while 37.2 percent said it was not responsible.

A strong majority of respondents, 76.1 percent, said they believed the exam was suspicious while 72.2 percent said they did not trust the Student Selection and Placement Center, or ÖSYM, which administered the exam.

Only 17.1 percent of those surveyed by the Ankara-based company, which polled 1,458 people in 31 provinces on Friday and Saturday, said they believed the exam was held fairly, while 22.5 percent said they had confidence in the ÖSYM.

Embattled ÖSYM Chairman Ali Demir should resign, according to 68.1 percent of respondents, while 18.2 percent said he should not.

Eyes on judiciary

Ambiguity remains on the fate of the exam as the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Office continues its investigation into whether the cheating allegations are true. A decision is likewise still pending from an Ankara court on a Konya candidate’s petition for the annulment of the exam based on the cheating claims, which center around the alleged existence of a “code” revealing correct answers to some questions on the test.

The Ankara court has given the ÖSYM until Monday to make its defense.

It remains an open question what will happen to the 1.7 million students who took the exam if the court annuls the test or orders a stay of execution. The ÖSYM has already announced the results of the exam, to much criticism by those who said the testing body should have waited until the investigations had concluded.

Sources indicated the ÖSYM will not give its defense to the Ankara court and will argue that it was free to announce the exam results because the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had earlier announced that it had completed its examination of the test booklets of the 1.7 million candidates, although the probe was still ongoing.

The prosecutor’s office is likely to make a statement Monday on the results of its investigation.

Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu meanwhile called on the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Saturday to disclose its “surprise,” referring to the office’s earlier statement that its probe could hold a surprise.

“I know one of those surprises. I wait for an explanation,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

The CHP chief also criticized the government during an election rally Sunday in the Central Anatolian province of Niğde, saying those who cannot handle an exam cannot run the country.

Survey on bin Laden

The MetroPOLL survey also measured public reaction to the killing by U.S. special forces of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. The majority did not welcome his death but said the terror chief should have been tried instead of killed, the poll revealed.

The killing of bin Laden, who was found unarmed, was not right, according to 61.7 percent of the respondents, while the action was supported by 24.7 percent.

The majority of respondents, 78.3 percent, said bin Laden should have been tried instead of being killed.

Some 71.1 percent said his killing would increase terror attacks while 10.8 percent said it would reduce terror attacks. The percentage of those who said they have no idea about the potential effect was 17.2 percent.

An overwhelming majority, 78 percent, also said bin Laden did not represent the Islamic world, while 11 percent said he did.

May 8, 2011
SOURCE: Hürriyet Daily News