What students are objecting to
Tikvah Education says the exit exam fee has gone from 750 birr to 2,000 birr, that some postgraduate and other examination services also cost more, and that the Grade 12 exam is 950 birr. Students it quotes say the new rate adds pressure on the unemployed and on low-income families, and some say the price will keep them from sitting the exam a second time. They call for rates people can afford.
They also ask that charges for correcting errors, a wrong name among them, be removed altogether. In their view a mistake made by an institution should not be paid for by the student.
What individual students describe
- A first-degree graduate who failed the exit exam in 2017 E.C. says she paid 750 birr to retake it and failed again. She was weighing a third attempt and says that at 2,000 birr she would rather not sit it. She is unemployed.
- Students trying to start a second degree say a 3,500 birr fee for one service is hard to understand, and that going from 750 to 3,500 will stop people from taking the exam more than once.
- A health professional says the cost of living was already pushing people out of the field and the fee deepens that.
- A Grade 12 student calls 950 birr unjustified for someone who is still studying and depends on family, and says it shuts out students who cannot pay.
What the fees are
The regulation that sets the new fees was published on 29 July 2026. It prices the university exit exam at 2,000 birr, the postgraduate entrance exam (NGAT) and professional licensing at 3,500 birr, and the Grade 12 exam at 950 birr. A study of what exit exam failures cost the state is in The state lost 8 billion birr to exit exam failures. Neither the regulation nor the service's letter to the universities says whether a university may pass its bill on to its students.
Sources
Every figure and date above comes from one of these. Open them; a story about your child's school is worth checking.