SFrom the point of view of teacher associations, school certificates and final exams should take into account the difficult circumstances of the corona pandemic this year. “An exceptional situation like the Corona crisis requires special regulations: Nobody is allowed to sit down this school year,” said the head of the Education and Science Union (GEW), Marlis Tepe, the editorial network Germany (RND / Thursday).
Abitur and intermediate degree would also have to be taken without an examination based on preliminary work. “There must be compensation for disadvantages for all pupils at general and vocational schools.” The ministers of education urgently need to present a concept “how performance measurement, examinations and degrees are to be designed under Corona conditions,” Tepe demanded at the same time it is ensured that the federal states recognize each other’s qualifications.
The Association of Education and Upbringing (VBE) advocated flexible assessment of the performance and circumstances of the students by the teachers. “There will be no general corona bonus,” said VBE boss Udo Beckmann to the RND. The pedagogical and technical competence of the teachers ensures that the performance is assessed that could be achieved under the given conditions, Beckmann assured.
Knowledge gaps in high school graduates can be bridged
The German Association of Philologists called for the teachers “in the interest of the pupils to have more flexibility in the choice of examination tasks for the Abitur exams”. Basically it is correct to strive for a higher comparability of the degrees through increasingly standardized tasks, said the association chairwoman Susanne Lin-Klitzing the RND. “But in this school year a lot went differently than usual – and often only the teacher on site can assess exactly what could and could not be learned.”
The President of the University Rectors’ Conference, Peter-André Alt, called for a uniform approach by the federal states to the Abitur. “We have to be careful that individual countries don’t rush forward and distribute grade bonuses, that would be unfair,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. Grade bonuses should be available for everyone or for no one. “If you do something, please vote.” Gaps in knowledge among the high school graduates are unlikely to pose any major problems for the universities: Universities could offer more of the bridging courses established in recent years that offer tuition in certain subjects at the beginning of the semester, says Alt Especially in mathematics, which has been the “main problem subject” for a long time, there is this offer to ensure the ability to study.
“The universities will be making more offers at the beginning of the next winter semester,” Alt expects. “We don’t have to fear that a year group comes to the universities completely unprepared.” Aptitude tests are a good complementary evaluation system for university applications, but because of the large number of applicants not possible in many subjects. “That is why the Abitur grade will continue to be the focus indicator.” Alt appealed to this year’s Abitur class not to be discouraged by the pandemic situation. “Trust that you have learned something in the last eleven years, do not let the current adversity demotivate you,” he advises the school leavers. “Apply for a study place and trust that you will meet the requirements.”
.