Exam-resit date announced for answer sheets damaged by earthquake-related fire
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Hsu/Saw (NP News) – April 27
A powerful earthquake on March 28th caused a fire at Mandalay University, resulting in the destruction of matriculation exam answer sheets for Kachin State, Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, and Naypyidaw. Consequently, the State Administration Council has announced that the exams will be re-administered.
The matriculation entrance exams for the affected regions will be re-conducted from June 16 to 21, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM each day.
Only candidates who completed all subjects in the March examination are eligible for the retake. The list of eligible candidates will be posted at relevant regional, state, district, and township education offices and examination centers.
Additionally, it has been announced that candidates who took the exam at the following exam centers of Basic Education High Shools in Sagaing Region do not need to retake the exam: Min Kin, Pan Saik, No.1 Tamu, No.2 Shwebo, No. 1 Ye U, Banmauk, Wuntho, Mawlaik, Kintat, and Ayadaw.
Of the examination centers used during the March exams, two centers in Sagaing Region, 19 centers in Mandalay Region, and 10 centers in Naypyidaw will have their students retake exams at different centers. Students from the other centers not mentioned in the list will sit the exams at their original locations.
The announcement states that the admission cards for the upcoming university entrance examination must be collected directly from the respective examination center supervisors at the designated examination venues. The collection period is from June 1st to June 15th.
For the (2024-2025) academic year, the university entrance examination was conducted nationwide at a total of 817 examination centers from March 17th to March 22nd. It is reported that over 200,000 registered students attended and took the exam. However, some regions faced significant challenges due to armed conflicts, including activities of PDFs (People’s Defense Forces), and some students were unable to sit the exams entirely.
Due to the fire, the answer sheets for the (2024-2025) matriculation examination, which were stored in the main building of Mandalay University, were destroyed. It is reported that a total of 280,940 answer booklets from 46,944 examinees in Mandalay Region, 43,827 answer booklets from 7,311 examinees in Sagaing Region, and 52,189 answer booklets from 8,699 examinees in Kachin State were lost in the fire.
The People's Pioneer Party (PPP) released a suggestion on 21st April stating that these answer sheets that were destroyed by fire due to the earthquake should be passed. Additionally, the Stockholm Peace Prize winner, IBEC Sayadaw, also released a statement on his Facebook page objecting to the request for re-examination.