'Teachers under pressure to increase grades for school exams'
The results of the school exams in secondary education, which take place at this time of the year, are quite disappointing due to corona. Management boards are now putting pressure on teachers to increase those grades. “This is absolutely not possible,” de AOb.
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School exam results seem to be disappointing across the country. That's not unexpected: from one AOb-survey it became clear last month that, according to teachers, students could not be properly prepared for the exams. And that a considerable number of students at the beginning of this school year are already blinking their eyes, because they can't handle the level.
“Directors are shocked by the figures,” says Kim van Strien, CEO of the AOb. "And they sometimes ask the teachers to increase those marks. I heard from one of our members that her students score an average of 3 on the school exam and that the management is now asking her if everyone can add 2 points. But that is against the rules: the standards are determined in advance at her school, not afterwards.”
If I don't give them enough baggage, they will get into serious trouble in secondary education
And yes, the students are having a hard time, in corona time. But should they therefore only receive points as a gift? No, says AObChief driver Ben Zwartjes. “I prepare my students for a subject, not a diploma. Those students are grateful to me for that - maybe not immediately, but at least later. Then they proudly say that they were the only ones in the class at college who could make a certain sum. Because let's not forget that: after the final exam they have to continue. If I don't give them enough baggage, they will get into serious trouble in secondary education. ”
Central exam
The school exams are usually followed by the central final exam in May. But whether this will continue this year, and in what form, is still the question. Minister Arie Slob has it Board for Tests and Exams commissioned to come up with 'an appropriate standard' for the final exams in these corona times.
But the latter also causes problems with school exams. “I make sure that my school exam is at the same level as the final exam,” says AObdriver - and physics teacher - Zwartjes. “But if the final exam is relaxed, my school exam was too strict. That doesn't matter if the student succeeds, but I also don't want students to fail at my subject - especially if they don't continue to study in it. Those are diabolical dillemas. It really wakes me up.”
If we start cheating with the standards, I'll stop. Then I might as well go and work in the supermarket, right?
In any case, the teachers know one thing for sure: they - and no one else - are in charge of the grades. “As a teacher, I will never boost my grades, because that would be at the expense of my subject,” says Zwartjes. “If we start cheating with the standards in education, I will stop. Then I might as well go and work in the supermarket, right?
Effects
Also AObCEO Kim van Strien hears stories from all over the country from teachers who are pressured to raise standards. Don't give in to it, she advises. “The teacher is about the grades. That's in the Teaching profession act. If we lower the standards now, the children will soon experience the consequences in further education. "
“Directors should not put pressure on teachers,” he says AObChief Driver Zwartjes. “And the minister must intervene by providing clarity very quickly about what will happen with the central exams. It is actually already too late, but anyway: we really need to know before Christmas. ”
Also read: 'Education quality has fallen sharply in times of corona' en 'Secondary education students get stuck'
