Two external exams, and the third to be transformed into an internal exam, formation of a working group consisted of representatives of the Bureau for Development of Education as part of the Ministry of Education and Science and the Union of High School Students, which will decide on abbreviated curriculums involving the external exams and the final exam instead on May 29 to be taken on June 5, are some of the agreed solutions reached Thursday by the Government and the Union of High School Students.
The working group will be consisted of the representatives of the Bureau for Development of Education and the Union of High School Students as well as teachers nominated by the Union. It will be chaired by an official of PM’s office and is tasked to complete the entire process by mid-March.
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev after the meeting with representatives of the Union of High School Students told reporters that through a dialogue, they found a compromise solution that guarantees the quality of the state exit examination that allows every graduate to enroll in universities in the country and abroad.
“It was necessary to adjust the concept of the state exit exam due to the impact of the pandemic on the educational process and on the basis of the exchange of arguments and everything in their favor is acceptable to us. It was necessary to meet their demands and find the best possible solution,” Zaev said, adding that it was necessary for the state exit examination to underwent changes.
The President of the Union of High School Students Blendi Hodai told reporters about details of the found compromise solution, saying that the bank exam questions should contain at least 60 and at most 100 questions, and the coefficient in the respective external exam to be increased from 0.5 to 0.9, i.e., from 5 to 9 points.
The State Exam Center to reinstate the exam in aesthetics and philosophy subjects as the second external exam in the secondary art schools. Universities to issue which of the list of subjects are suitable for their study programmes.
“For the purpose of the students to have the option to change their exams, students who will take the state exit examination must re-register their exams. And we propose a deadline to be March 5 for students to do this. During the talks with the Government, we found a solution for a change in the way of getting the points for the internal exams. The grade from the exam and the grade point average will now be taken into account as a basis for obtaining the points,” Hodai added.
With the compromise they reached, he believes that there will be a real reduction of the exam programmes for the external exams, and the other elements, will additionally facilitate the taking the state exit examination.
