Controversies continued over the cancellation of the results of Islamic studies exams for middle school students in Iraq due to the leak of the exam questions, despite authorities shutting down the internet during the test to prevent cheating. The ministry of education was forced to deny new reports about leaked Arabic language exam questions. This is the first time the ministry of education has ordered a comprehensive cancellation of any course test. In some years after 2003, the ministry decided to cancel the results in some districts and exam centers. The ministry opened an urgent investigation into the matter, and issued a decision on Saturday to cancel the results of the Islamic studies exam. A new date has been set for the exam. On Wednesday, the Iraqi government issued a set of decisions in this regard. The office of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement that the cabinet “voted for adopting professional standards in selecting educational officials and keeping them away from the quota system.” The cabinet also decided to “review the mechanisms of the ministry’s examinations, taking advantage of modern technologies, in order to ensure consistency of scientific level and adherence to legal contexts in relation to the preservation of federal competencies, aspects of curricula, assessment and examinations and educational supervision, and no interference by any party.” The statement pointed out that the cabined voted on an administrative investigation to be conducted by the ministry of education into the leakage of exam questions. It also called on the ministry to take the necessary legal procedures under the provisions of the law of discipline of state and public sector employees and refer them to the judiciary. Despite reports that an official in the department of education in Falluja is responsible for leaking questions of Islamic studies exam, the spokesman of the ministry of education, Sarmad Salam Lefta, said that investigations were underway in all Iraqi provinces to determine the source responsible for the leak of questions. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Lefta said the ministry would announce the party responsible for disseminating the questions, upon the completion of extensive investigations carried out with the help of various national security and intelligence services.