OELMEK and the Pan-Cypriot Confederation of Parents of Secondary Education request the abolition of the four-month exams through a letter addressed to the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth (YPAN), Athina Michailidou, and to the President of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Pavlos Mylonas.
The letter talks about "obvious and multiple problems created by the implementation of the Four-Month Exams (reduction of useful teaching time, promotion of the mechanistic processing of the teaching/exam material, creation of an extremely stressful school program that has a negative impact on the school units, the teachers, the quality educational process and especially the students, etc.)", as well as for "the significant mistakes made in the process of their implementation by the Ministry of Education (e.g. increased teaching material in relation to the available teaching time, exam material, exam essays, etc.)".
It is added that "the objectives set from the beginning by the Ministry of Education and Culture for the implementation of the Quarterly Examinations (e.g. "formative assessment", "improvement of learning results", "reduction of truancy", "reduction of the material", "reduction of stress and the pressure on students", "increasing students' personal free time", "stimulating the use of new feedback forms of continuous and creative assessment", "classification of school time in students' consciousness", "turning the school into a community of learning and creation") have not been achieved".
OELMEK and the Pancypriot Confederation of Parents of Secondary Education request "that the new Government and the House of Representatives immediately promote the procedures for the termination of this institution, with the simultaneous initiation of a meaningful dialogue with the aim of forming a new student evaluation plan/ -three, which really works for the benefit of the Public School and primarily the students, which will be implemented from the next school year 2023-2024". At the same time, they note that "ways should be found, so that this year's students, and especially the final students, are not victimized due to the existing failed evaluation system".
Furthermore, OELMEK and the Pancypriot Confederation of Secondary Education Parents request that the three exams be stopped in the XNUMXrd Lyceum, "because the system that was implemented in the last two years proved to be exhausting for the final year students". They express the position that "at least the intermediate central exam for the XNUMXrd Lyceum should be abolished", while they stand against the abolition of the All-Cypriot Examinations.
"For the 2008rd Lyceum, the exams (whether regarding dismissal or access) must be held at the end of the school year", it is pointed out. It is added that "one of the scenarios to be discussed for final year students is the holding of a single exam at the end of the school year for dismissal purposes and immediately after the holding of the Pancypriot Examinations for access purposes for those students interested in entering the public universities of Cyprus and Greece, as was the case until XNUMX".
At the same time, OELMEK and the Pancypriot Confederation of Parents of Secondary Education state that the mid-term written central exam should be abolished both in the XNUMXst and XNUMXnd High Schools as well as in the High School Cycle, "since the conduct of this exam is primarily responsible for the loss of useful teaching time, the non-effective implementation of formative assessment as well as many other negative side effects of the four-month exams".
It is underlined that "for the three classes of the Gymnasium as well as for the 60st and XNUMXnd classes of the Lyceum, a single examination could be maintained at the end of the school year, in which the students will be examined in a limited and clearly defined subject matter, which will not exceed XNUMX% of the curriculum". It is noted that the exam material will be announced every school year after the Easter holidays.
It is added that the weight of the final central examination in the overall score should be reduced compared to the existing system and should not exceed 30%.
It is clarified that both the XNUMXst and XNUMXnd semesters will continue to exist for purposes of separating the school year and the curriculum. The grade of the year will result from the grade of the first semester (the grade of the students from the oral assessment, exams), the grade of the second semester (oral assessment, exams) and the grade of the final central exam that will be held at the end of the school year.
At the same time, it is stated that "very clear limits should be defined regarding the number of competitions that will be held during the school year and every four months, for each subject separately (according to its needs), while a maximum limit of contests that will be allowed per week".
Finally, OELMEK and the Pancypriot Confederation of Parents of Secondary Education ask that their concerns, concerns and opinions be heard, as well as their common request for a meaningful dialogue. They also note that they expect "the pre-election commitments of the new Government to be respected, both regarding the institution of the four-month exams in general and those regarding the non-victimization of this year's students and especially final year students".
Source: KYPE