|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
 |
Archives:
|
|
| The Baccalaureate Shock |
| (2011-07-04) |
| Last updated: 2011-07-05 15:07 EET |
The secondary school graduation exam, the baccalaureate, as it is known in Romania, was held recently for all students who finished high school this summer. The results were shocking: they were the worst results recorded in the last 20 years. This sparked anger and resentment, as well as a storm of reactions in the media.
The education system in post-Communist Romania proved once again that it is a victim of its own reform attempts, many in number, slight in results. Until now it was the norm to have high pass rates at the baccalaureate exam. This time, however, more than half of the 200,000 plus students who took the exam failed it.
This disastrous result once again brought to the fore the problems in the education system that every Romanian is familiar with: poor infrastructure, poor wages for teachers. It also put in the spotlight another well-known issue, one that may reveal why the results obtained in previous years were so disproportionate with the results this year.
That issue is cheating, and this year the ministry decided to introduce tough measures to prevent it. That initiative revealed an incredibly dysfunctional system. In 23 high schools all across the country, not a single student passed the baccalaureate exam, including high schools in Bucharest. In Mehedinti County, in the southwest, the difference in graduation figures from last year to this year was huge, over 55%.
Almost 700 students were kicked out of the exam for being caught red handed, and many papers were disqualified because they were identical to others. Faced with this embarrassment, the National Federation of Parent Associations said that the results this year were caused by the fact that education is not a national priority, and that the exam questions were too difficult.
The director of the Institute for Public Policies, Adrian Moraru, reacted to the shocking figures by saying that the problems in the education system are a matter of national security, because they indicate that Romanian education cannot train competent doctors, politicians or teachers.
The president of the Romanian Academy, Ionel Haiduc, blamed the situation on the fact that, in the last 20 years, mentalities and attitudes towards school have changed dramatically.
|
|
| |
WMA |
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
MP3 |
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
AAC+ |
|
|
48kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
 Historical mascot of
RRI |
| |
© 1999 - 2011 Copyright Radio Romania International |
|
2025-04-03
Print
Listen again