The education ministry said on Tuesday it will find an alternative solution for the 250 students who failed to take the Modern Greek exam on Monday after the initial exam was cancelled when one topic was leaked by the “unacceptable” behaviour of one teacher.
Meanwhile, it emerged that information about the possible leak was available before the day of the exam.
Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou said on Tuesday it was “unacceptable and incomprehensible” that a private school teacher decided to leak the topics of the first twice-yearly exam to final year students.
“There cannot be no consequences,” Prodromou told Ant1.
He confirmed reports that the ministry has sought the input of the legal service on how to handle the case.
The private school where the teacher is employed is also conducting its own investigation, Prodromou said. Officials are trying to determine whether the specific female teacher had a role in the printing process, which took place a few hours before the exam started at 10.30.
The woman “thought it was good to send a description [OF THE EXAM] to a person, which is unacceptable and incomprehensible,” Prodromou said.
After the teacher sent the social media message on Monday morning, the topic was leaked to more students before many had even left for school to sit the exam. In the message, the teacher said the paper was difficult and mentioned what was included in it.
The ministry, who said it was informed about the leak an hour before the exam, investigated the claim and immediately gave instructions for the exam to stop.
This was about 30 minutes after students started the exam.
Students were then halted, and proceeded with a different exam at 11.30am, despite teachers and students calling for the exam to be postponed for a later date.
However, House Education Committee chairman Pavlos Mylonas said on Tuesday that they received complaints about a possible leak of the national exam before Monday.
The chairman said they were not able to intervene on the eve of the exam because they would “end a process which is dangerous”.
“We should let the children unhindered to complete the twice-yearly exams,” the chairman of the house education committee said.
He urged those involved to wait for the completion of the investigation, saying they will examine the credibility issue that emerged with the education ministry.
Regarding the students who did not take the second exam, the minister said it concerns 250 teenagers while another 66 were absent.
Those cases will be examined and students will have the opportunity to pass a second set of examinations.
“Solutions will be provided for everyone,” Prodromou said.
On Tuesday morning, head of the secondary schools parents association Loizos Constantinou apologised to students for the inconvenience.
But it is the education ministry that should apologise to students according to secondary education teachers’ union Oelmek.
Their comments came after the union and parents groups held an extraordinary meeting late on Monday to coordinate their response to the incident.
Oelmek secretary Costas Hadjisavvas told CNA that the union trusts the teachers who participate in the examination committees. These concern those who photocopy the written text and deliver it to students.
But “unfortunately this unexpected event occurred, which came from a private school teacher,” Hadjisavvas said.
After the topics were leaked, he said the union proposed to postpone the exam recommending another specific date.
Since that did not happen, the education ministry would have to apologise to final year students, and support them psychologically, he added.
He also reiterated that it is the teachers’, students’ and parents’ position that the January exams should be abolished. He proposed the education minister convene a wide-ranging meeting involving all education stakeholders to initiate a better way of assessment that serves students and public school in general.
Meanwhile, students told reporters that some of them lost their train of thought and found it more challenging to concentrate on the new exam after completing a large part of the previous one.
On Monday, student union Psem put up banners outside the education ministry against the introduction of the twice-yearly exams, calling them a “fiasco”.
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