The Internet is once again severely disrupted during the Bac exams in Algeria (June 11 – June 15). Access to the network is even sometimes impossible during part of the morning and afternoon.
In addition to Internet shutdowns, authorities have announced legal action against cheaters. Sentences to prison for cheating were pronounced by many courts in the country during the first two days of the Bac.
In force for several years, the radical solution of cutting off the Internet is not unanimous in Algeria. The former president of the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), Abderrazak Makri, castigated this decision.
“If we had a real economy, what would be the losses caused by Internet cuts during the five days of the Bac? If we had the rule of law, what compensation would be granted to impacted companies?”, reacted Abderrazak Makri on his Facebook page, recalling the promise of the President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune who had declared in 2020 the end of Internet cuts during the Bac.
Bac: fight against cheating differently
Contacted by TSA, information technology expert Younes Grar claims “not to understand how subjects are printed in Algiers and then shipped by road or plane hundreds or even thousands of kilometers sometimes”.
“That’s where the leaks happen. It is possible to print the topics everywhere. Why go about it this way? There is a need to review the making of the subjects,” he continues.
As recommended by education unions, Younes Grar mentioned the solution of jammers to fight against cheating in Bac via the Internet.
“We do too much with the Bac. It is a simple exam that has even been abolished in some countries. We can use jammers instead of penalizing an entire society. The economic losses are significant. People’s daily lives are turned upside down,” he said.
While recalling having pleaded for the authorities to find other solutions, the president of the Consumer Protection Association (Apoce), Mustapha Zebdi, addresses the commercial aspect linked to Internet shutdowns during the Bac.
For Mustapha Zebdi, telephone operators must “compensate their customers”. “A customer pays for a specific debit or for a period, it is not possible to deprive him of his right for five days without compensating him”.
The three mobile telephone operators (Mobilis, Djezzy and Ooredoo) and Algérie Télécom, the public ADSL monopoly, are strangely keeping silent about these cuts.
For his part, Boualem Amoura, secretary general of Satef, pointed out on Sunday the problem of Internet connection which disrupted the work of collecting information from delegates in the various wilayas of the country.
