Somalia’s Ministry of Education has Sunday facilitated the airlifting of at least 18 secondary students from Barawe in Lower Shabelle region to participate in the national examinations in the capital Mogadishu.
The decision followed complaints by the students to the authorities after they missed the first day of the test.
The Education Ministry has confirmed that the special arrangement was put in place for the examiners to do their papers in the capital.
According to previous plans, the examiners were required to attend the test in Marka district which is a few kilometers from their hometown since their location was not a registered examination center.
More than 30,000 students are taking part in the national exercise which kicked off on Saturday and expected to conclude on Wednesday.
The exams will be conducted in dozens of exam centers across the capital and federal member states including Jubbaland, Southwest, Galmudug, and Hirshabelle as well as Benadir region.
High school students in Puntland state in northeastern Somalia do not sit national exams as the region does not subscribe to the standardized federal exams system.
