Russian Authorities Allow Rescheduling of Matriculation Exams By Jewish Students

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins this evening. In Russia, after intervention by President Dmitry Medvedev, the Minister of Education has ruled that Jewish students may postpone their taking of the national matriculation exams which were scheduled for tomorrow in conflict with the holiday. Chabad.org News yesterday reported that in a letter to Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, Educational Minister Andrei Aleksandrovitch Forsenko, citing the Russian Constitution, said that students in the Ohr Avner Chabad network of Jewish day schools and Jewish children in public schools can take their exams up to June 17.