At a meeting held on 19 December 2022 at the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (MESY), with the participation of the Minister of Education Mr. At a meeting with Minister Prodromos Prodromos, the Directorate of Secondary Education and the inspectorates of Physics, Biology and Chemistry, regarding the subject of "Physics" in secondary school, the process of its written evaluation was examined.
The Minister first sought clarification as to whether the subject is considered, as provided for in the Timetable and Regulations, to be one subject or whether it should be treated as three separate subjects. Noting that it is treated as an examined subject because the teaching hours in all three subjects are cumulatively counted, views were sought as to whether it would continue to be treated as one subject of a total of four periods of teaching, and therefore be examined and this would be done in a single examination, or whether it would be treated as three separate subjects of shorter teaching time per class and so would not appear to be justified as an examined subject.
On the basis of the clarification provided and given the timetable currently in force, the Minister has concluded that this is a single course, single-marked and should be treated as such in the written assessment. Consequently, he asked that if there were any other proposals to be submitted subsequently by the Secondary Education Directorate, in consultation with the inspectorates
The Minister noted in this regard that the prevailing impression that three separate examinations should be scheduled was incorrect and that the decision on the upcoming January 2023 assessments was taken on an interim basis and on an exceptional basis because it appeared that different impressions had been created in the past.
Therefore, for the 2022-2023 second quarter assessment process, it is now clarified that there will be a single assessment of the Physics course. Therefore, the Secondary Education Directorate will proceed with similar planning.
In conclusion, it was clarified that, given this order of things and as a result of previous decisions on the Timetable, it is now up to the inspectorates to enter into consultation and come to a timely conclusion as to whether it is appropriate to prepare a single examination essay, which will include the entire subject matter, or whether it is considered preferable to submit separate essays for the subjects, which students will nevertheless be asked to complete as part of a single examination process. It was clarified that in the latter case, in consultation with the subjects concerned, account should be taken of the fact that pupils will have two or three separate essays before them at any one time, depending on the class, and that the length and specification of each and the allocation of the time available should be properly assessed.
At the same time, provision will be made by the inspections so that teachers in schools also prepare children accordingly for the written assessment.
IP
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