Author: Dallandyshe XHAFERRI
After the theses of the matura exams were released on social networks, the Educational Services Center, through an announcement on the official website, informed the graduates to request a copy of the test of the four exams. Every graduate was offered an online application by June 28, within the time frame 08:00-16:00. However, the date announced to take the first step with complaints on the exam results, coincided with a holiday, the Eid holiday.
"Sinjalizo" was made aware of the lack of transparency on this process by one of the graduates who accuses that his results were influenced by the thesis that was leaked just before the exams. "I am not aware of the Education Services Center notification. No one followed a public procedure to notify us, the disaffected. I learned it from a friend, he advised me to complain. I will definitely complain. But applying on a day off for such an important request, such as a copy of the exam thesis, is more of a procedure than a solution to the problem. "- says Angelo, a high school graduate in "Halim Xhelo" high school, in Vlora.
Non-official sources for "Sinjalizo" confirmed that the suggestion for graduates was distributed during this Tuesday and the young people's complaints should be made on the e-Albania portal.
Graduates: We copied
"It is generally copied, I may say, and that good pupils are abused, because they are constantly asked to show or give answers”,- this is how one of the graduates of the "Shote Galica" school in Fushë Krujë, who, on the condition of anonymity, admits that during the development of the matura exam process, the graduates were helped to copy by the responsible administrators themselves.
"In the 3 exams where the administrators were from the area, there was little tolerance and help, while in the exam where the administrators were from other districts, in the specific case of Kamza, they were stricter and exerted pressure",- he says, admitting that "I found cases of copying, but the students were not expelled from the exam. The situation passed very easily, as if nothing happened," the graduate concludes by emphasizing that "the administrators were always there, but there were moments of noise that negatively affected the best students and I can say that the weak students got a higher grade than the good students".
Also, the "help" of the administrators by allowing the graduates to copy has not been absent in other schools of the country. Ana Doçi, a graduate of the "Ibrahim Rugova" school in Kamëz, tells "Sinjalizo" that "in some exams the control was very strict, while in others not".
"There was communication between students",- accepts Doçi, adding,- "students had prepared small sheets and took them out while going to the toilet". Meanwhile, Kristo Mjeshtri, a graduate of the "Muhamet Kondi" school in Poliçan, tells "Sinjalizo" that in his school "Phones were categorically not allowed and the control over them was very strict" .
Gevio Tabaku, activist with "Civic Attitude" tells "Sinjalizo" that from the communications they have made with the graduates it results "that in some cases there were violations of the regulations either by the graduates or even by the administrators themselves, who help the graduates by giving them copies".
Also, Tabaku adds that according to the data that the "Civic Center" has provided, not all exam centers were under camera monitoring. "In about 30% of exam centers did not have security cameras, which makes the process unfair, as graduates should be treated uniformly throughout the country", - concludes Tabaku.
But the ministry did not catch anyone with a copy
Despite the assertions by the graduates, the Ministry of Education has informed "Sinjalizo" through a response to the request for information that during the matura exams "no students caught with copies" as a result, no measures have been taken against any graduate. According to official data, this year 3500 educational employees were hired for each exam, but none of them was deemed responsible for publishing theses on the Internet while the graduates were taking the exam.
The Ministry of Education tells "Sinjalizo" that none of them is responsible "in the State Matura exams 2023, no thesis appeared in any exam before the start of the exam",- adding that "MAS in cooperation with QSHA (Educational Services Center) has taken all security measures from the moment of drafting theses, their multiplication and distribution under strict security measures, assisted by the Albanian Post and the State Police". - is said in response.
Meanwhile, Gevio Tabaku reiterates for "Signalizo" that "The main problems encountered are mainly related to the administration of the process, which left much to be desired", he says, affirming that "All the exams were published on social networks a few minutes after their start, which means the presence of mobile phones by the graduates themselves or the administrators".
Graduates covet majors with many points
For the education expert, Irsa Ruçi, the publication of the thesis is not as disturbing as the State Matura process itself, which she says she judges "as an important instrument for closing the 12-year cycle of study, but not necessary to serve as a springboard that promotes the bureaucracy of university penetration."
According to Ruçi, graduates are not oriented towards the labor market, while they covet branches that require a high average.
"There are some branches, which due to the high number of points needed to penetrate them, look like "fashion branches" and for a young person they are seen as the "forbidden apple" which is coveted even more, believing that this is related to finding a job after a few years", she says, adding that "it doesn't really happen like that, since we don't have a clear study of the labor market, to know how it really works".
For the other education expert, Valbona Nathanaili, the average grade should not be different, in different branches as "All branches are equally important. A graduate as a teacher is as important as an economist who tomorrow may be at the level of drafting economic policies", - she says, while the approval of DCM for removing the 8.5 average from qualified branches "with national priority".
Exam results, thousands of high school graduates are rated with grades 5 and 6
According to the data made public on the State Matura portal, it appears that 444 graduates failed the Albanian Language and Literature exam this year. The Ministry of Education informs "Sinjalizo" that the exact number of graduates participating in this state exam is 27, in other words, 270 less than the real number of students who should have been present.
From the calculations of "Sinjalizo", based on the grades rounded by QSHA in the Albanian Language and Literature exam, 6 students received the grade 724 and 5. In other words, about 6% of the students participating in the exam were evaluated with passing grades 24,6 and 5.
Meanwhile, 27 high school graduates took part in the foreign language exam, 236 students less than they should have been present. In the foreign language exam, 496 graduates failed, while 384 students received passing grades 5 and 6. In other words, 5857% of them received a not high passing grade.
The largest number of dropouts was recorded in the mathematics exam, in which 1549 graduates failed, while the maximum grade was obtained by 238 students.
In other words, 5,6% of the 27 high school graduates participating in the mathematics exam were graded 500.
Irsa Ruçi, an education expert, tells "Sinjalizo" that the problem does not lie only in the thesis "the way the thesis is structured and the sterile process that follows it"
"Our children and young people study with texts that have logical and spelling deficiencies. They learn with texts that are translated and not pronounced. With texts that feel foreign and cannot be absorbed",- says Ruçi, emphasizing that "our textbooks lack a theoretical basis explained in detail and comprehensible. Therefore, the work should start from the textbooks to turn them into a function of knowledge, to continue further with the control tests"- she concludes.
