There were no tasks
“After seeing the problems of both physics and mathematics mid-term examinations, I think I will have a proposal for changes and improvement of the system in a few days”, said the minister during the government hour in the Seimas on Thursday.
He admitted that the tasks of the intermediate inspections were “nothing” and therefore they will be evaluated by the commissions established for this purpose.
At the same time, G. Jakštas considers that commissions may be needed to evaluate the tasks of intermediate inspections of all subjects.
“Evaluate whether those tasks actually corresponded to the program or evaluate the students objectively”, said G. Jakštas, adding that it is now necessary to fix “this problem”.
Also evaluated possible fraud
The education community is also talking about possible cheating after Thursday’s advanced maths (A-level) mid-term exam.
According to the minister, the National Education Agency (NŠA) will assess whether the tasks could have actually been leaked before the exam. Only then will decisions be made on what to do with it.
The responsibility is to find solutions
Before answering the questions of the members of the Seimas, G. Jakštas told reporters that the problems in the mid-term examinations arose because of the tasks and that they are looking for ways to solve them so that the students are not harmed.
“The fundamental problem that exists in interim settlements is in the preparation of tasks, which tasks we have. Where is the problem in the preparation of the tasks, whether the task organizers prepared the tasks incorrectly, or were they given the wrong instructions, we are still clarifying that, but the problems are with the tasks”, G. Jakštas told reporters in the Seimas on Thursday.
G. Jakštas, who has a master’s degree in mathematics, said that sometimes he felt like he was in the Olympics while solving the B-level mathematics test task, which should not be the case.
“There were no tasks that were somehow related to life. (…) The tasks were quite difficult, solving some of them felt like participating in the Olympics, coming up with a solution where you are happy, how I succeeded here, but it shouldn’t be like that in B-level tasks”, said the minister.
G. Jakštas said that he sees his responsibility for inappropriate tasks as an effort to find solutions to the revealed problems so that students are not harmed. He also said that there is time for this, unlike in the case of the matriculation exam, when they are held just before the start of admissions to higher education institutions.
“My responsibility is that the problem needs to be solved so that students do not suffer because the tasks were prepared improperly, incorrectly, as a result, not a single student should suffer, and after ensuring that, after finding solutions, you can look for the culprits”, – to the question who will take responsibility, replied the minister.
“I take responsibility for finding solutions to move on. It’s always easy to say something is wrong, deal with it, I’m leaving. My goal is to solve so that those problems don’t exist,” noted the Minister of Education.
G. Jakštas ordered the formation of commissions for the mid-term tasks of physics and mathematics, after there was an indignation that they were too difficult – such evaluations were shared by both students and subject teachers.
Testimonies of students: disappointment, anger, sadness
Šarūnas Vaitkus, a mathematics teacher at the Vilnius Jesuit High School, published on his Facebook account the certificates of several eleventh graders from the A-level mathematics intermediate examination.
Š. Vaitkus writes after receiving personal stories of students, imbued with disappointment, anger, sadness and other dark colors. He shared a few quotes:
Student 1:
“I am a first-year student and a participant in the mathematics Olympiad, today I scored only 11 points out of 20 during the mid-term test. The situation is similar with other eleventh graders who are good and excellent learners of mathematics. We all believe that the reason for this is the absolute lack of time to complete tasks, as well as the lack of learning resources, i.e. textbooks and exercises, and the insufficient quality of existing ones due to the sudden updating of programs. For the entire 6 and a half months before the mid-term examination, teachers were forced to “use their creativity” and search at night for suitable books, textbooks, exercises to explain the topics and solve the problems, because the mid-term examination program, for example, does not include any equations, although they are needed to solve part of the function problems , which by the way make up the bulk of the intermediate inspection.
Besides, we didn’t even have to solve problems similar to this one during math lessons. The time that “pressed” the students also caused a lot of stress and even more hindered their concentration when solving the remaining tasks.
Today’s eleventh graders feel completely ruined and are extremely worried about their future.
After the mid-term exam, everyone left in a very pessimistic mood, I even had to hear the thoughts of extremely talented students with excellent grades, pioneers, who were completely disappointed with themselves after the mid-term exam and called themselves “stupid”, even though they understood the topics perfectly during the lessons and devoted a lot of their time to preparation free time and lessons. Like everyone, I also have a fundamental question – in what way is this updated procedure supposed to “reduce” the level of stress and anxiety among schoolchildren? Today’s eleventh graders feel completely ruined and are extremely worried about their future. It is likely that this feeling will have a negative impact on the next midterms and twelfth grade exams as well…”
Student 2:
“While waiting for the intermediate, every day after school until late I solved tasks, studied (…), listened to all the lessons. I myself felt that the knowledge base has become wider. I did everything I could. That makes me feel at ease. However, such tasks as were during TP were never seen. I understand that it is easy for those who have very strong logical thinking and participate in the Olympiads, but for us, the students who really sincerely try, put all the “soul” and are congratulated with a four, it is sad. I’m very disappointed because my whole life for the last two months has been maths TP. In every “window” to solve problems, counseling, all vacations spent with math problems… Is all my effort worth a 4 when the annual grade is a 9? I must not understand something “.
What is the importance of inspections?
Starting from this year, eleventh graders take mid-term examinations, which will form part of the assessment of the matriculation exam.
40% can be obtained during the intermediate examination. final exam assessment – this is enough to pass the exam. A student who has scored at least 35 points will come to the state exam knowing that the exam has already been passed, no matter how many points he gets.
For this year’s 3rd grade high school students, it will be possible to retake the intermediate tests, except for the Lithuanian language and literature speaking part, and choose a better assessment.
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2024-04-14 07:45:20