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Mariam Malak

CAIRO. — Thousands rallied behind a top-ranked student who not only failed her exams but was given the lowest marks possible in a potential case of injustice and corruption.

Her expectations were high – and rightfully so. Mariam Malak had achieved nearly perfect marks in previous years, results which made her one of Egypt’s top performing high school students. When final exam marks were announced, she eagerly scanned the list top scores, but to her surprise, her name was not on it. Still, she was still confident she’d done enough to get into a medical school – until she saw her results, and fainted.

“I was completely shocked,” Malak told BBC Trending. “I couldn’t hear anyone, I couldn’t speak. I thought how can that happen? How can I get zero?”

Malak scored zero out of 100 not just on one exam, but on all seven she sat. The results were so incredible that she and her family immediately suspected foul play. Initially there was speculation that Malak was failed on purpose because she’s a member of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority. But that theory was quickly dismissed and now the family believes that she is a victim of corruption.

“Either the school or the examination board swapped her papers with another pupil who obviously wasn’t doing as well,” alleges Mariam’s brother, Mina.

Stories of bribery and corruption are not unheard of in Egypt’s education system. But Mariam Malak’s case received a huge amount of public attention online. Thousands of Egyptians rallied behind her using the hashtag “I believe Mariam Malak” and a Facebook page set up to support her gathered more than 30 000 likes.

“It’s not just that they stole her marks, they also stole her future and dreams,” one Egyptian woman tweeted. Another wrote: “Imagine getting zero in 7 subjects!! It’s a disaster!”

To get the minimum possible score, a pupil must more or less leave the paper blank, and whoever filled out Malak’s exam papers merely wrote out the exam questions. The Egyptian Ministry of Education investigated and subjected Malak to five handwriting tests, afterwards concluding that the flunking exam papers were indeed hers. — BBC.