Rwanda’s Ministry of Education has withheld the results of some students after 7,188 students and teachers were suspected of involvement in cheating or facilitating cheating in the 2025/2026 national examinations.
The cases concern national examinations for Primary Six and Senior Three, commonly known as Tronc Commun.
Minister of Education Joseph Nsengimana disclosed the figure on Friday, August 28, 2026, during an interview with Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), explaining why some students had not received their examination results after the results were released.
The development has left some parents uncertain about the fate of their children after discovering that their examination results had not been published.
Nsengimana said the results were withheld while investigations were conducted into suspected examination malpractice, adding that the findings are expected to be announced by Monday, August 31, 2026.
Students whose results were withheld will receive them once the investigations are concluded, he said.
“We withheld their results so that an investigation could first be conducted and we could establish exactly what happened,” Nsengimana said.
Explaining how suspected cheating is detected, Dr Bernard Bahati, Director General of the National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), said some cases are identified while examinations are still underway, while others emerge during the marking process.
“Some are caught during examinations with phones or papers containing answers. Others are identified during marking, when the same answer is given by many students in exactly the same way, even when the answer itself is incorrect,” Bahati said.
He said such cases prompt NESA to conduct further assessment before making a final decision on the results of a student suspected of cheating or facilitating cheating.
Nsengimana stressed that being suspected of cheating does not automatically mean that a student has been found guilty, saying investigations are necessary to establish the facts.
Teachers warned over facilitating cheating
Nsengimana warned that people who facilitate cheating in national examinations are committing offences punishable under the law and could face serious disciplinary and legal consequences.
“Their punishment is more severe than simply receiving a zero in school,” he said.
He said anyone found to have facilitated examination malpractice, particularly teachers, would face sanctions intended to serve as a deterrent to others.
Nsengimana said teachers who help students cheat undermine the purpose of education and should not remain in the profession.
“A teacher who helps a student cheat is not a teacher. Such a person should not be in education because they are not educating,” he said.
He added that once the investigations are completed, those found responsible would be punished to discourage others from engaging in similar practices.
According to the Ministry of Education, 276,679 students from 3,895 schools sat the Primary Six national examinations this year, recording an overall pass rate of 88.21%.
A total of 149,015 students sat the Senior Three national examinations, with an overall pass rate of 85.70%.
