Forum Crossfire
Forum Crossfire | June 2, 2008, Monday // 00:00| views
The State Where No One Fails
Author: Quest Bulgaria
We have a Bulgarian employee who has recently taken his driving test. He was totally horrified that the theoretical test asked him questions which he had not been told of in advance. When I explained to him this was standard in western europe (that you were asked all questions on the spot and expected to provide answers), he considered this totally unreasonable saying "but it's a whole book I would have to learn", then even going on to say that the questions are irrelevant anyway "what does it matter if the sign says there is something going on in 100m or 1km, I'll just find it when I get there and deal with it then, it's just practice and trail and error. I shouldn't be expected to know things like this, it's stupid. They are cheating asking me questions which I haven't been told I will be asked and can practice the answers; it's so much stress anyway, just even memorising the answers". OMG!
I understand that the high school exams appear to be on the same idea. Based upon the questions asked in September.
So, are any exams or tests worth anything in Bulgaria to discover your knowledge or understanding of a subject or is it only a question of memorising the answers. Sadly enough, they won't even work hard enough to remember the answers - THEY WILL ALL PASS?????? Maybe they will, even if they can't do the answers to questions already given in advance - a very sad state of affairs.
Author: Devil's Advocate
It happens all the time in BG. When I taught in BG, we had to pass all the students even those who did not deserve it. The school director mandated that. The reason has more to do with competition and how the schools are run at the ministry level. Schools in BG get funding based on the number of students that go there. So if a school wants more funding they try and encourage students to go to their school by offering them "good grades". In many of the schools in the town I taught in, students picked the school they wanted to go to. Directors will bribe students with the idea of good grades just to get them to attend class and be in their school. There was no district system where you go to the school that you go to because you live in that district- it is all about competing for students- which cheats the Bulgarian children out of a quality education.
Author: NC
I know that this isn't true for some universities, but I concede the point that I don't know enough about primary or secondary education in Bulgaria to dispute your points.
Don't take it personally, but I'm still finding it extremely hard to believe that the questions are given in advance. I'm sure there is bound to be a EU report on Bulgaria's educational system. Is any of this mentioned?
Author: Devil's Advocate
When I taught in BG, teachers did give students the answers to test questions in advance to help the pass and get the "good grades" that the director promised them. Parents knew this and many "good" parents would send their students to both the public school and a private tutor so that they would actually learn something. It was common in the small town I worked in. Competition for students, lack of discipline in schools (parents think that ANY form of discipline is to "communist" -at least that is what they told me when I worked in the school- and don't realize that no rules = chaos and to be "democratic" you still need rules and discipline-law and order), anarchy, chaos, all are part of the culture of a country that is struggling to become more "democratic". IMHO, 50+ years of communism did not help BG in any way....
Author: Quest Bulgaria
We have a Bulgarian employee who has recently taken his driving test. He was totally horrified that the theoretical test asked him questions which he had not been told of in advance. When I explained to him this was standard in western europe (that you were asked all questions on the spot and expected to provide answers), he considered this totally unreasonable saying "but it's a whole book I would have to learn", then even going on to say that the questions are irrelevant anyway "what does it matter if the sign says there is something going on in 100m or 1km, I'll just find it when I get there and deal with it then, it's just practice and trail and error. I shouldn't be expected to know things like this, it's stupid. They are cheating asking me questions which I haven't been told I will be asked and can practice the answers; it's so much stress anyway, just even memorising the answers". OMG!
I understand that the high school exams appear to be on the same idea. Based upon the questions asked in September.
So, are any exams or tests worth anything in Bulgaria to discover your knowledge or understanding of a subject or is it only a question of memorising the answers. Sadly enough, they won't even work hard enough to remember the answers - THEY WILL ALL PASS?????? Maybe they will, even if they can't do the answers to questions already given in advance - a very sad state of affairs.
Author: Devil's Advocate
It happens all the time in BG. When I taught in BG, we had to pass all the students even those who did not deserve it. The school director mandated that. The reason has more to do with competition and how the schools are run at the ministry level. Schools in BG get funding based on the number of students that go there. So if a school wants more funding they try and encourage students to go to their school by offering them "good grades". In many of the schools in the town I taught in, students picked the school they wanted to go to. Directors will bribe students with the idea of good grades just to get them to attend class and be in their school. There was no district system where you go to the school that you go to because you live in that district- it is all about competing for students- which cheats the Bulgarian children out of a quality education.
Author: NC
I know that this isn't true for some universities, but I concede the point that I don't know enough about primary or secondary education in Bulgaria to dispute your points.
Don't take it personally, but I'm still finding it extremely hard to believe that the questions are given in advance. I'm sure there is bound to be a EU report on Bulgaria's educational system. Is any of this mentioned?
Author: Devil's Advocate
When I taught in BG, teachers did give students the answers to test questions in advance to help the pass and get the "good grades" that the director promised them. Parents knew this and many "good" parents would send their students to both the public school and a private tutor so that they would actually learn something. It was common in the small town I worked in. Competition for students, lack of discipline in schools (parents think that ANY form of discipline is to "communist" -at least that is what they told me when I worked in the school- and don't realize that no rules = chaos and to be "democratic" you still need rules and discipline-law and order), anarchy, chaos, all are part of the culture of a country that is struggling to become more "democratic". IMHO, 50+ years of communism did not help BG in any way....
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