[MGSA-L] Education Minister: Greek University Entrance Exam System Will Change in Three Years

[June Samaras]

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/02/09/education-minister-greek-university-entrance-exam-system-will-change-in-three-years/


Education Minister: Greek University Entrance Exam System Will Change in
Three Years

By A. Makris - Feb 9, 2017

The current system of university entrance exams, which he called
“educationally unacceptable,” will be changed within three years, Greek
Education Minister Constantinos Gavroglou announced in Parliament on
Thursday. The minister was addressing the plenum during a debate on a
government bill for state-issued foreign language certificates.

“The last two years of high school must be radically upgraded and children
must come away with a diploma that has serious standing in society,” he
said. He also referred to the problems caused by the emphasis on exams and
the “hijacking” of secondary education by ‘frondistiria’ — after-school
tuition schools prepping students to sit the exams.

“All society is aware that the last two classes of high school are
invalidated and this is not the fault of teachers, there is a collective
responsibility,” the minister noted. He urged everyone to consider that
“there is an institution outside of schools that has succeeded in
swallowing up school, an institution that provides education without being
in the body of the school.” For this reason, he added, high schools needed
to be essentially founded again from scratch.

“…the exams need to be de-dramatized; they have no educational role since
the children memorize their lessons verbatim and then sit the exams and
those that don’t memorize fail. This is an educationally unacceptable
system,” the minister noted. What needs to be preserved is the integrity of
the current system, Gavroglou said, so that young people can get a place in
university on the basis of their high school diploma in a way that is not
open to abuse.


- See more at:
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/02/09/education-minister-greek-university-entrance-exam-system-will-change-in-three-years/#sthash.nSeQAt34.dpuf

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June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com
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