On the ground floor of Addis Abeba Institute of Technology (AAiT) hall, a quiet examination room awaited senior-year students tentatively making their way to take the model exit exam.

The bright room had 12 computers, with three administrators keeping a watchful eye on the students. As soon as students log into their accounts, the timer begins counting down from 150 minutes.

A 23-year-old Yasub Getu from the Electrical & Computer Engineering department is one of the 400 examinees that took the model exam in the institution.

Yasub made an effort to complete 90 questions within two and a half hours. However, halfway through, a power outage occurred, which caused her momentary apprehension as the generator took some time to restore power.

Although the system had saved the locked answers, the timer had not paused.

"That was very unsettling," said Yasub.

Being part of the first generation of examinees, the experience felt strange to the aspiring engineer.

Some questions that were expected based on the schedule had not exactly been present in the model examination, leading to confusion about what to expect in the real exam. Despite believing that taking the exam would create a fairground in the labour market, the sudden imposition felt spontaneous, creating trepidations of inadequate preparation.

"We should have known from the beginning," she said.

Nearly 168,000 students have completed the mock exams, which are designed to help them prepare for the upcoming real exams this week. It is anticipated that around 195,000 students will sit for the official exams in 47 public universities across the country, spanning five consecutive days.

Under Berhanu Nega (Prof), the Ministry of Education has introduced a sudden and strict requirement where students on the last straw of their undergraduate studies will take an exit examination to qualify for a degree. Officials expect it will measure the skill, knowledge, and aptitude of graduating students.

Eba Mijena (PhD), head of higher education Academic Affairs at the Ministry, said the exam is a prerequisite to getting a degree. He disclosed that students who fail to obtain a passing mark will be allowed to try again after six months.

Over 200 examination facilities with computers had been prepared by the Ministry.

“Although not state of the art, they are equipped with the necessary infrastructure,” said Eba.

The oldest higher education facility in the country, Addis Abeba University, is administering the exit exam to 15,300 students. The majority of the examinees are from private universities and colleges, accounting for 80pc of the total number. The University offers 84 undergraduate programs across 50 departments.

Wubayehu Mamo, an advisor to the University's president Tasew Woldehanna (PhD), disclosed the 23 examination halls equipped with 2,600 computers along with a newly formed task force comprising administrative and academic leaders with model exams and tutorials on the ready.

Ministry officials hope the much-anticipated exit exam will help revive the declining quality of education, serving as a stepping stone towards restoring faith in the education system.

Seid Mohammed, head of quality & competency enhancement at the Ministry, believes quality, competition, and transparency will be attained through the exit exams.

He said that it will bring about accountability and transparency not only for students but also for instructors and higher education institutions, who will be measured for their success or failure, based on their students' performance.

"This will serve as a wake-up call for educators," he said.

Many of the 324 private colleges in the country have been frequently reprimanded by the federal agency responsible for not maintaining higher education standards.

Although the overall declining quality of education is rarely debated, Geremew Zerfu, academic development & quality assurance officer at Alpha University College, argues that simply conducting mere examinations will not be enough to restore it. He asserts that the necessary groundwork must be established.

Alpha University College, established in 1981, is one of the better-known higher education institutions in the country, hoping to graduate 863 students this year.

Geremew argued that reforms should begin with competent teachers and equipped facilities.

"Proper groundwork is missing from the reforms," he told Fortune.

According to the Online Journal of New Horizons in Education, surplus students entering universities with a low level of academic preparation and a weak mastery of basic knowledge have led to poor graduate quality. The total enrollment rate of students had increased from 42,132 in 1996, to 192,000 in 2004, quadrupling in less than a decade.

An average of 160,000 students across the country graduate annually. Although officials have been trying to accommodate the surging number of students by expanding to 47 public universities, researchers argue that quantity has outweighed quality.

Poor university and industry linkage, low wages, lack of facilities and educational resources, and the mismatch between competency and the labour market are some of the challenges for novice graduates.