The Draft of the Operation of Public Schools Secondary Education (Amendment) Regulations of 2022, will be debated by the Parliamentary Committee on Education on Wednesday, with organised parents telling the Cyprus News Agency that the amendments are not the ones they believe would help improve the institution.
The OELMEK states that the draft amending regulations were not consulted with those directly involved and expresses the view that not only does it not solve the problems with the administration of the quarterly examinations, but instead adds some additional ones.
The OLTEK, for its part, states to the Cyprus News Agency that what it will propose is to increase the number of technological subjects examined in the subjects for the practical direction of Technical Studies, i.e. to examine Modern Greek and two technological subjects.
Draft Public Secondary Schools (Amendment) Regulations 2022
In its introductory report, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth states that the intended amendments are deemed necessary based on the experience gained from the implementation of the Regulations in the last three school years and the evaluation of the procedures and aim to differentiate the subjects tested in secondary schools, lyceums and technical schools as well as to improve the procedures for the assessment of students in the framework of the four-months.
It notes that the proposed amendments will facilitate the smooth operation of school units in terms of timetables and procedures, in view of the gradual extension of the implementation of the institution of assessment of students in the context of the four-year cycle in the next school year 2022 to 2023, including in secondary schools.
Based on the above, says the Ministry of Education in its explanatory report, the "Regulations on the Operation of Public Secondary Education Schools (Amendment) Regulations of 2022" were prepared and were subjected to a legislative and technical review by the Legal Service.
The Council of Ministers, at its meeting on 21 June 2022, has approved the Regulations on the Operation of Public Secondary Schools (Amendment) Regulations 2022 and authorised the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth to immediately submit them to the House of Representatives for approval.
According to the submitted draft, the subjects to be examined in grades A, B and C of secondary school are Modern Greek and Mathematics.
Regulation 15 of the Basic Regulations is amended as follows:
By replacing paragraph 1 thereof with the following new paragraph: The subjects to be tested in writing in the January and May-June term examinations for students in the secondary and technical education cycle are:
For all theoretical and practical branches of the A and B classes of Technical Schools, except for the branch of Hotel and Catering Arts, the subjects to be examined shall be Modern Greek, Mathematics and one of the technological subjects of the branch/specialty, as determined by a circular of the Ministry,
For the branch of Hotel and Catering Arts in grades A and B, the subjects tested are Modern Greek, English and one of the technological subjects of the branch/specialty, as determined by a circular of the Ministry,
For the Lyceum, the subjects tested in writing at the end of the term for students of the Lyceum cycle of Secondary Education are: In the first grade of high school, the subjects examined are Modern Greek and two (2) orientation courses of each Orientation Course Group and in the second grade of high school, the subjects examined are Modern Greek and two compulsory courses of the student's choice as follows: 1st Direction : Ancient Greek and History, 2nd Direction: English and French, Direction 3: Mathematics and Physics, Direction 4: Mathematics and Economics, Direction 5: Economics and English, 6th Direction: Art and Theatre.
It is understood that for the transitional school year 2022-2023, the subjects of the 2nd Direction in the 2nd grade are Modern Greek, English and History.
In grade 3, the subjects to be examined are Modern Greek, the four (4) Direction courses, three (3) or two (2) compulsory and one (1) or two (2) electives, depending on the Direction of choice."
Regulation 15 of the basic regulations is amended by replacing paragraph 11 thereof with the following new paragraph."
Regulation 15 of the basic regulations is amended by replacing paragraph 11 thereof with the following new paragraph: The period, procedure and schedule for conducting the quarterly promotional and graduation examinations for all subjects in all grades of junior high school and high school shall be determined by the competent authority and by replacing subsection (a) of paragraph (13) thereof with the following subsection: "(a) where he fails in three (3) examinable subjects, or".".
Regulation 15A of the principal regulations is amended as follows:
By substituting for sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) thereof the following new sub-paragraph: "(b) The assessment for a student's active participation in the course specified in subsection (a) shall be conducted through a process of continuous assessment that may include the following alternative forms of assessment: classroom and/or laboratory participation; homework assigned by the instructor; one (1) written cautioned exercise (test) of one (1) class period per quarter for each subject tested; one (1) class period written communicative essay (idea essay) of one (1) class period, per quarter for Modern Greek and the examined foreign language subjects, one individual or group creative study project per quarter assigned and prepared in consultation with the teachers of the examined subjects, distinction activities and/or volunteer work related to the specific subject, in addition to classroom teaching.
It is understood that, for the creative study tasks assigned to each student, as well as the classroom writing assignments for each of the subjects, there shall be coordination of the teaching officials in collaboration with the administration at the level of each pedagogical group, in order to avoid excessive burden on the students, in accordance with the Ministry's guidelines from time to time."
Regulation 15A of the principal regulations is amended as follows:
By substituting for sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) thereof the following new sub-paragraph: "(b) Assessment for a student's active participation in the course specified in subsection (a) shall be through a process of continuous assessment that may include the following alternative forms of assessment: classroom and/or laboratory participation, homework assigned by the instructor, one (1) short written cautioned classroom exercise per quarter for each subject tested, one individual or group creative study assignment prepared upon assignment and under the guidance of the instructor First of all, we must say that there is no mention, no modification regarding the 3rd grade and Technical School, which was one of our biggest problems during the implementation of the quarterly exams," he added.
As Dionysiou said, "we cannot accept and continue the situation with three exams within five months for senior students."
"This is too many exhausting. We also feel that the reduction of the courses, the examinable subjects for the A and B levels from 4 to 3 we feel will not help to any great extent," he said.
Let us not forget, he added, "that it was the useful teaching time that has been shredded unimaginably in relation to the syllabus. The curriculum we know cannot be reduced any further."
"It's perfectly understandable, but we cannot continue to not have the time, the required time, so that all children can attend in the classroom," he noted. He said, in addition, they believe that the mid-term exam should be abolished for all grades and for high school.
"We believe that the conditions are not ripe to put the four-months in high schools," he said."
He went on to say that "we see that since 2019 when the legislation started to be implemented until today, we have had constant amendments. So, it means that the institution has problems and distortions."
Then, he asked, "how can we go to the Gymnasium, which is a general class of 25 students?"
According to Dionysiou, "it is a big difference from the Lyceum. It is the high school where there is a gap between elementary and middle school. We have a large percentage of illiterate students. We have a percentage of children of immigrant backgrounds who don't know any Greek. We have a percentage of delinquent students who remain in the general classroom and we have a percentage of students with learning difficulties integrated in the special unit." "And all these children are required to start four-month classes as soon as they get to school," he added."
Dionysiou said they believe that the mid-term exam should be abolished, schools should not be closed "to save useful teaching time and that the four-month exams should be replaced with a common exam, centralized, which can be scheduled by the ministry in advance, so that this common exam will have a formative character, the weaknesses of the children will be identified, the teacher will be aware of them and the second quarter will start with a targeted approach, with a mirror image of the teacher for each student".
OELMEK
The new President of OELMEK Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos, in a statement to the Cyprus News Agency, said that they had addressed the Minister of Education since the end of March as OELMEK, the Pancyprian Confederation of Parents and the PSEM, requesting dialogue on the issue of student evaluation, which was not met with a response when there would have been too much time to discuss the issue and find solutions by now.
"Instead, we now find ourselves with a draft of amending regulations in Parliament, on which there was no consultation with those directly involved, teachers, parents and students and which in our view not only does not solve the problems presented by the administration of the quarterly examinations, but instead adds some additional ones, which also affect the quality of education provided," he added.
He noted that they will position themselves in the Parliament, based on the decision taken by the recent regular Pancyprian Conference of General Representatives of the OELMEK (PSGA), with responsibility, seriousness and the necessary documentation, asking once again to conduct this dialogue, which they have been asking for months, "so that we do not have the perpetuation of problems and the addition of new problems from the implementation of this institution".
OLTEK
The President of OLTEK, Panagiotis Lysandrou, in a statement to CNA, said that what they will propose is to increase the number of technological courses examined in the practical direction of the technical course, i.e. to examine Modern Greek and two technological courses.
"This is the differentiation that we will make. Otherwise, we believe that the process is simplified, which is good because it will relieve the schools and operationally, but also save valuable teaching time, "he added."
According to circles from the Parliament, the session is expected to be attended by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth , Prodromos Prodromou.
Representatives of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth, the Directorate of Secondary General Education and the Directorate of Secondary Technical and Vocational Education and Training of the same ministry were invited to attend the committee meeting, the Legal Service of the Republic, the educational organisations OELMEK and OLTEK, the Pancyprian Confederation of Federations of Public Secondary School Parents' Associations, the Pancyprian Coordinating Committee of Pupils (PCEM) and the Cyprus Children's Initiative.
Source: CNA
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