90-minute internet shutdown approved for exams as new minister proposes alternatives

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Council of Ministers approved Tuesday a 90-minute internet suspension from 6 to 7:30 a.m. during national examinations, even as the newly appointed Communications Minister Mustafa Sand unveiled a proposal aimed at ending such shutdowns entirely in the future.

“The Council of Ministers issued today a decision to cut the internet during exams for one hour and a half,” Sand said in a video statement, before outlining a technical alternative he said he had pledged to develop when parliament voted on his appointment days earlier.

Sand’s proposal involves a digital question-generation system in which internet providers supply all schools with connectivity while the Communications Ministry prepares “an algorithm containing between 4,000 and 5,000 questions” for the education minister. A special device held by the minister would allow exam questions to be randomly selected and printed simultaneously across all schools at 7 a.m. “With one random press of a button at seven in the morning, the questions are printed and delivered to all schools at the same moment of the exam,” he said.

Iraq’s middle school final examinations begin Wednesday, with more than 900,000 students expected to sit exams across more than 7,000 centers inside and outside the country, according to the Education Ministry. The Kurdistan Region is not affected.

Iraq has repeatedly imposed nationwide internet shutdowns during exam periods in recent years to prevent question leaks and cheating, a policy that has drawn criticism for disrupting communication and business activity.