Attendance "below expectations" at the Baccalaureate exam
Liviu Pop, Interim Minister of Education: ”Video monitoring compulsory during written examinations but not required during oral examinations”.
13 Iunie 2012, 11:42
Monday noon, approximately 200,000 highschool graduates took their first examination—the Romanian language and literature test.
Among them were 100,000 fewer candidates from last year’s graduation, when less than half passed the test.
The Minister had initially expected there to be 300,000 candidates.
Monday morning the Ministery declared that the total percentage of registered candidates both from 2011 and 2012 was 77 per cent, which confirms that many teens considered that they weren’t fully prepared for the test and decided not to take it.
The interim minister couldn’t give a clear explanation regarding the discrepancy between the estimated and the actual number of registered candidates.
According to several insectors, some graduates decided not to register for the test because they believed that they were unprepared.
The officials of the Ministery however, declared that the school situation of some of the pupils who had not registered was unconcluded and that some of them had failed to obtain passing grades, stressing that the final examination is optional.
The Ministry of Education announced that he will analyze the situation of the registrations for this year’s examination.
He also made it clear that written tests will be video monitored and that oral tests didn’t require it.
"The examination will take place in 621 centres. Aproximately 77 per cent of the graduates of 2012 and 2011 have registered for this year’s final examination. The comissions are ready, the video cameras have been purchased and everything will fall into place as soon as the examinations commences. Competence tests don’t require any video camera surveillance."
The first written test will be taken on the 2d of July.
The first results will be published on the 8th of July and the final ones, after all contestations have been, on the 13th of July.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 3 000 police officers and 1,500 gendarmes will secure the well organization of this year’s final examination.
Translated by Vlad Nichita
MTTLC, Bucharest University