Bacys: There are no major differences between works of students from Lithuanian schools and of these from non-Lithuaniana ones

Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Vaidas Bacys, stated in an interview for Radio “By the river Neris” that the differences between results of the mock matriculation examination of the standardized state language of students from Lithuanian and non-Lithuanian schools aren’t significant.

Deputy Minister added that in 2013 new evaluation criteria will be introduced  for the standardized state language exam, so that a student from non-Lithuanian school will not be discriminated.

‘We already have first grades. Those who evaluated students’ works could assess them according to three criteria, because we wanted to choose which criterion is better and the most optimal. First results show that there are no major differences between students’ works’, Bacys commented the results of the matriculation examination of the state language, which took place in April this year. Deputy Minister announced that for the next year’s state language exam specific criteria and reliefs in evaluating works of students from non-Lithuanian schools will be introduced. Students will have the right to make a certain number of mistakes. The Commission will also have to evaluate these mistakes in terms of their importance.

According to Bacys, the results differ not only between Lithuanian schools and schools of ethnic minorities but also between capital schools and provincial ones. ‘Of course there are differences. For example, students from Vilnius secondary school, in which material is taught in the language of a national minority, have better results than those from provincial schools. It doesn’t mean that there is a worse quality of teaching. One has to take into account many factors: the environment in which the child is being raised and the possibilities that a school has. (…) You can carry out an analogy that, for example, knowledge of English in Vilnius will be better than in Skuodas. The place has a big impact, because Vilnius is a multicultural city’, said Vaidas Bacys.

The final results of the standardized matriculation examination in state language will be known in September. Then, a meeting with representatives of national minority education is planned to develop the reliefs in evaluation of matriculation examination for graduates of non-Lithuanian schools. ‘Our analysis of results will be presented to the professionals, because I think teachers will be able to judge them best. And at the beginning of October we will be able to present examples of future examination tasks, as well as the evaluation criteria and standards, for example, how many mistakes and of what sort a student can make. So that children will know what to expect’, noted the Deputy Minister.

Source: http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/litwa/bacys-nie-ma-wiekszych-roznic-miedzy-pracami-uczniow-ze-szkol-litewskich-i-nielitewskich.d?id=59180551

Tłumaczenie Ewelina Zarembska w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Ewelina Zarembska within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.