KABUL - The Ministry of Higher Education on Saturday cancelled a college entry test in central Logar province as a result of intervention from public representatives and other local officials.

About 3,632 12th graders, including 280 girls, appeared in the entry test last Thursday. A 28-member delegation of the ministry had been in the province to oversee the process, the governor said.

But the delegation threw answer sheets in water channels on their way back to Kabul, according to Governor Niaz Mohammad Amiri. Members of the Wolesi Jirga and the provincial council were also present on the occasion.

Education Director Mohammad Akbar Stanikzai said the ministry team had returned to Kabul in two vehicles along with the answer sheets in sealed envelopes.

In reaction to the team’s blunder, hundreds of people staged a protest in Logar, blocking the Kabul-Gardez highway. The closure caused snarl-ups on the busy route.

Lutfullah Safi, the delegation’s head, told a news conference in Kabul that the exams had been scrapped and the papers did need to be brought to Kabul.

He linked the test’s cancellation to the presence of “irresponsible people” at the exam centre and cheating. Safi alleged some lawmakers and local authorities had asked those people to provide cheating materials to candidates.

Safi said the 27-member delegation, when it tried to prevent the illegal practice, was threatened by local strongmen and security personnel. “Due to intervention from those elements, the delegation chief formally cancelled the entry test, recommending the exams be given at an appropriate time.” (Pajhwok)