CAIRO, Jun 27 (Aswat Masriya) - Hundreds of Egyptian high school students protested on Monday in front of the Ministry of Education in Cairo against what they see as an "oppressive" educational system.

The protest was triggered by a ministerial decision to postpone exams, after successive exam leaks.

An eyewitness told Aswat Masriya that the students demanded that the minister of education "leave", and chanted, "We will not leave, he will leave" and "The students are not thugs."

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. 

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said in a press release on Monday 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."

He added that the government fully understands the impact of the decision on the students and their parents.

The Ministry of Education cancelled on Sunday the dynamics exam for the general secondary certificate (Thanaweya Amma), after the exam's questions were reportedly leaked. The ministry rescheduled the exam for July 2. 

Egypt’s top prosecutor referred on Sunday an investigation into cases of reported leaks to the State Security prosecution, which typically looks into cases that affect national security.

The public prosecution explained the decision to refer the case to this branch of the prosecution in a statement, saying that the repercussions of leaking exams affect the state’s supreme interests.

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

Early in June, the Thanaweya Amma religion exam was leaked, prompting the ministry to cancel and postpone the exam to June 29.

Following the incident, the prosecution ordered the detention of a number of Ministry of Education officials over accusations of leaking exam questions.

The interior ministry also said it arrested a number of students for running Facebook pages that leak exam questions and answers. 

The Thanaweya Amma exams are held in the final year of Egypt's secondary education stage before students are set to enroll in university.