Nearly 200 midwives and nursing students at the International University in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district protested yesterday after reportedly being denied the necessary documents required to sit the Ministry of Health’s state civil servant exam this summer.

The group of students protested in front of the university holding banners and pictures of Hun Sen and his wife, Bun Rany, to whom they appealed to for help. They claim the university did not release their graduation certificates in time, and so they were unable to qualify to take the state civil servant exam at the Ministry of Health – a prerequisite to enter their chosen profession.

The students prepared to burn tyres but were halted by university administrators, who promised to find a resolution.

According to the complaint filed by one student, the Ministry of Health had asked the university to release their graduation certificates as proof students were qualified to sit the post-graduate exam, but the documents were not sent.

A student, who declined to give his name, said that the Ministry of Health had a July 6 deadline for applications, which students cannot qualify for without proof of a degree.

“How can we apply for an exam as state civil servants in advance when we do not have a certificate from our university and the ministry cannot recognise our graduate exam?” he asked.

Nob Sophally, a university administrator, said that it would try to resolve the issue.