Student in Kazakhstan makes 11-m long cue card, fails to use

ASTANA. June 8. KAZINFORM Express K newspaper says a graduate of one of the Ridder high schools in East Kazakhstan has made perhaps the longest cue card in the history while preparing for the single national testing (SNT).

The cheater wanted to use an 11-meter long crib note containing more than 25 000 (!) answers at the exam, but it was taken away from him by invigilators.

It seems 2012 is an 'unlucky year' for the most SNT takers. School leavers claim the SNT questions are different from what they have swotted. Some 90 per cent of Maths and History questions have been altered, high school students insist.

Even SNT results of the straight-A pupils disappoint. For instance, 72 per cent of Altyn Belgi mark contenders in East Kazakhstan failed to score the required number of points during the test. Altyn Belgi mark, given only to straight-A school leavers, grants a right to attend any higher education institution in Kazakhstan without paying tuition fees.

Most students and their parents with tears in their eyes say that SNT stands for 'single national tragedy'.

Meanwhile Head of the Education Department Madeniyet Akhmetova stresses that students have themselves to blame. "Every time the test takers see a slightly altered question or a task they push the panic button," she says.