Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation accuses the previous Government of not having ensured the necessary conditions for schools to carry out final tests in digital format, as planned.
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The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) announced this Thursday that the final exams for the 9th year will take place this academic year, exceptionally, in paper format “to guarantee equity for all students”. The assessment tests continue to be carried out in digital format, “reaffirming the current Government’s commitment to the digital transition”, can be read in a statement sent to newsrooms.
“The previous government did not provide schools with the necessary conditions to carry out final exams in digital format, as planned”, highlights the ministry in the same note.
The decision is announced after the ministry team met on Monday with the School Council, the National Association of Directors of Groups and Public Schools (ANDAEP) and the National Association of School Directors (ANDE) to assess the existing conditions in schools to carry out assessment tests and final exams for the 9th year in digital format, as planned. School directors highlighted, according to MECI, the “serious lack of guarantees of equity for students” , which is particularly worrying for the 9th year Final Exams, as they have an effect on the final assessment.
This week MECI services were also consulted, namely the Institute for Educational Assessment (IAVE) and the National Examinations Jury (JNE) and the General Directorate of School Establishments (DGEstE). These bodies pointed out “serious flaws in the provision of IT equipment, its maintenance and the connectivity of schools so that they can guarantee that all students will be able to take assessments with equal opportunities this academic year”. DGEstE reported, for example, that 13,639 9th year students did not receive the digital kit (laptop, data stick and accessories).
The ministry points out that the importance of the digital transition for students and for the country's development justifies maintaining assessment tests in digital format. In the specific case of the 9th year exams, he states that this is a “transitory and exceptional” solution. It guarantees that it will present, as part of the preparation for the next academic year and in conjunction with schools and local authorities, a set of measures to ensure that students have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with technologies and develop the necessary skills to carry out assessments in digital format.
MECI regrets that the “lack of planning by the previous Government has generated a situation of uncertainty” regarding student assessment. “Inevitably, this lack of definition placed students, families, teachers and principals in a situation of uncertainty, interfering with the good school environment at a crucial moment of the school year”, he concludes.
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