The Ministry of Education will act with firmness and consistency in order to prevent cheating, to appreciate the merits and to reward those who learn, Minister Maia Sandu said at the start of the 2014 Baccalaureate session, quoted by IPN.

The minister said the students, parents, teachers and society realized that a system where the exam results are not credible and where the children are not motivated to learn is dysfunctional and affects everyone. “Together with the parents and teachers, we have the obligation to support the children in the education process, to respect their choices and to help them to develop the best traits of their character,” said the minister.

According to Maii Sandu, several new elements were introduced this year for improving the process of organizing the exams. The remuneration for teachers who will grade test papers was raised in order to involve more competent persons in the assessment of the Baccalaureate tests. Money was earmarked in the state budget for covering all the costs for purchasing the supplies needed by the exams commissions and the parents must not collect money for the purpose.

As many as 27,600 students will take Baccalaureate exams this year. Of them, 21,300 are twelfth graders, while 6,200 are young people who failed the exams the previous sessions. The exams will take place at 104 Baccalaureate sessions between June 3 and June 20. The test papers will be graded until June 26 and the exam results will be made public on June 27.

The Ministry of Education calls on the political forces and the whole community not to allow interference in the examination session so as not to add useless tensions to the public debates in this period.