Dagestani residents state deliberate understatement of USE points

Residents of Makhachkala assert that members of Examination Boards at the Unified State Examination (USE) are deliberately understating pupils' points, fearing a negative reaction of the federal centre to high results of Dagestani schoolchildren.

Their parents state that even those pupils, whose marks within the year were "good" or "excellent", have failed to receive positive marks for the first USE exam – the Russian language.

"My daughter received only excellent marks, but at the Russian USE she scored only satisfactory points. One of my familiar examiners said that they had been instructed not to put too high marks, because our local bureaucrats don't want scandals with Dagestani excellent pupils, as it happened in previous years," a resident of Makhachkala named Aminat told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Ismail, the father of one of school graduates, said that "there are no chances to challenge an understated mark." "An appeal should be lodged within two days; it cannot be done so quickly; as they pick on each piece of paper."

Igor Olejnik, an official of the press service of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Dagestan, has reported that it is still impossible to provide any information about the complaints and violations during the USE, held on June 10, because they have not yet received information from the localities.