CAIRO, Jul 4 (Aswat Masriya) - High school exams were leaked inside the classrooms as students were taking their tests, the spokesperson of Egypt's Ministry for Education said on Monday.  

Students involved in the cheating will have their exams cancelled, state-backed television reported.

Approximately 560,000 high school students attended their history, geology, algebra, geometry and solid geometry exams this morning.

Egyptian students take exams for the general secondary certificate (thanaweya amma) in their final year of school before entering university. Their exam scores for thanaweya amma determine which university faculties they will have access to.

Since the beginning of the thanaweya amma exam season, several cases of exam leaks, mostly via social media networks, have been reported.

A number of exams, including dynamics and religion exams, were postponed after it was reported that the exam's questions and answers had been leaked. 

A Facebook page called, "Chao Ming helps high school students cheat," with over half a million followers, posted the exams' answers and questions this morning.

Thousands of student protested the exams' postponements in front of the Ministry of Education's headquarters last week, demanding that the minister of education leave his position.

"We will not leave, he will leave," the students chanted. 

On the other hand, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail commented earlier that the decision to postpone the exams "was to preserve the principle of equal opportunities for all students, out of the state's concern to handle [the issue with] transparency and honesty."

A large number of mothers also attended the protest with their children. One of the students told Aswat Masriya that the exam leaks are the responsibility of the ministry, and that students should not bear the leaks' consequences.