Massive Fraud Causes Cancellation of University Entrance Exams in Cuba

HAVANA TIMES (dpa) — The theft of university admission math exam in Cuba has forced the authorities to overturn at least one test and program its repetition in Havana, according to information released today by the official daily “Granma.”.

The cancelled exam for students seeking to study at universities was given on May 6, according to reports. The test should be repeated on Monday May 26.

The massive fraud associated with the filtration of the tests is part of an illegal network of selling exams, stated the Cuban Ministry of Education.

The theft involves three university professors, the statement said without elaborating.

The fraud in Havana also pertained to the subjects of Spanish and History, although in both cases the authorities detected the exam theft beforehand the test date.

“It has been determined that unscrupulous people stole the exams despite measures (security) adopted and, in the case of Havana, the math test was in the hands of a group of students,” the statement said.

This was not the first time that such fraud is recorded in Cuba. In June 2013 the authorities also annulled the results of a regional pre-university exam in Havana due to a similar robbery.

In part owing to the low income of the state sector, theft is rampant in state institutions and businesses in Cuba. Many workers steal anything that can be sold on the black market to augment their insufficient salaries. President Raul Castro has made fighting corruption one of the central themes of his agenda.