IN a statement released Dec. 6, the National Association of Educators (ANDE) called on education authorities to take a good hard look at the results of this year’s national high school graduation tests, called exámenes de bachillerato, and take responsibility for what it characterizes as a low passing rate.
A failing grade on the test means the student cannot graduate from high school. According to ANDE, only 18,857 of the 29,462 students who took the test passed, meaning more than 10,000 students may not be able to attend university next year. (The Public Education Ministry has received more than 6,000 appeals, the daily La Nación reported, so the final number may be lower.)
In 2004, 11,000 students failed their exams, but after intense protests from teachers, parents and students (TT, Dec. 17, 2004), the ministry conceded that 20 questions on the exam were flawed. With their removal, more than 6,000 additional students received passing grades.
“It needs to be analyzed whether there are problems in the training, the development, the infrastructure, the pertinence of the study programs and all the areas involved,” ANDE president José Antonio Barquero said in the statement.
