The pandemic diminished the lyceum and secondary school students’ élan. Approximately 95% of them said they are not prepared for exams and thus most of them want these to be cancelled, shows a study by the National Youth Council of Moldova (CNTM). The data were presented in a public discussion centering on the access to high-quality education and the 2021 graduation exams, IPN reports.

According to the study, the pandemic and remote learning significantly reduced the quality and access to education in the 2020-2021 school year. “In the first semester, 12% of the students didn’t take a plenary part in the education process owing to the lack of devices and access to the Internet. In total, almost 27% of the students didn’t have computers and/or Internet connection. In the second semester, in April, the figure declined to 1.5% in the current configuration. Also, 11% do not have computers and/or Internet connection,” said Ana-Maria Beldiga, CNTM youth policy coordinator.

Even if the situation has improved, the students attending the discussion said distance learning significantly reduced the quality of studies. As physical presence in classrooms decreased drastically, many themes weren’t taught and the students had to individually learn a large part of the content.

About 71% of the lyceum graduates want the Baccalaureate exams to be canceled and the arithmetic average grade for the lyceum grades to be applied. 16% want the authorities to offer them the possibility of choosing between Baccalaureate exams and the arithmetic average grade. 91% of the secondary school graduates want the graduation exams to be annulled.

Attending the discussion, ombudswoman for children’s rights Maia Bănărescu said the graduation exams cannot take place without the authorities assessing the preparedness level of students and intervening with particular changes. “An option is to hold the Baccalaureate exams by obeying all the sanitary restrictions and reducing the volume of subjects, with more accessible themes for students, depending on the quality of teaching and the volume of content that was taught,” she stated.

The event involved representatives of student and youth organizations, parents and students who stated their opinions. According to CNTM secretary general Roman Banari, the study and the conclusions of the public discussions will be presented to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research so that this ensures access to high-quality education for all the students and takes a correct decision about the graduation exams.