Math exam
Math examIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Approximately 300,000 Israeli high school students tackle the tricky math matriculation examinations Monday, and Education Ministry officials hope there won’t be leaked answers this time.

More than 13,000 supervisors will fan out over 970 schools to correct any technical problems, as well as make sure there will be no repeat of last year’s problems when questions and answers were leaked and sold in an Arab-populated city in the Galilee.

Previous tests have included questions that even math geniuses could not answer.

The results of the matriculation examinations determine the chances of a student’s being accepted into university, and cause nervousness and tension among many students. The tests are held at different levels of difficulty.

The ministry has added staff following last year’s police investigation that revealed that a ministry supervisor leaked some of the questions to a private teacher, who then passed them on to a student and relatives. The questions, and some answers, were then sold for 250 shekels ($70).