The children’s ombudswoman considers it is opportune working out the graduation exam papers for ninth and twelfth graders based only on the lessons taught until March 2. Maia Bănărescu said distance learning is a pilot procedure for the national education system and its efficiency is to be determined in terms of satisfaction of the educational needs and requirements in the field of children’s rights protection, IPN reports.

In a press release, the ombudswoman said that for distance learning to be appropriate, both the students and teachers should be supplied with the necessary information and communication technology as not all the students and parents can access and use the given tools. The procedure should be also clarified for children with special educational needs and children held in jails or remand prisons.

Maia Bănărescu recommends the minister of education to review the order on testing at national graduation exams of the 2020 session based on the formulated observations and to issue a circular to teachers concerning the adjustment of the educational process, in particular as regards homework, to students’ capacities and needs.

In a letter to the Ministry of education, Culture and Research, the ombudswoman says the pre-testing mechanism should be abandoned in the distance learning conditions as such an exercise will not achieve its goal and will cause additional stress to children. “In the distance learning conditions, no one can guarantee that the student takes the test independently and does not use Internet sources, the testing result being thus compromised from the start.”

Maia Bănărescu recommends the Ministry to place test models on its website and on the website of its subordinate institutions in the absence of pre-testing and to instruct that the students should take these tests.