The uncertainty about changes in selectivity and the delay in publishing the new exam models have generated a great “feeling of anguish” among the second-year high school students in Catalonia. October comes to an end, and with it the deadline set by the Department of Research and Universities to publish an example of the 35 subjects of the Proves d’Accés a la Universitat (PAU).
This is what the spokesperson for the Student Union denounces, Paula Leyvawho assures that “the lack of information for almost a quarter has added to the stress” of the students who “they risk their future in an exam“Hundreds of young people demonstrated on October 11 throughout Catalonia demanding the immediate publication of the models with the changes applied according to state regulations.
However, students are not the only ones who have suffered unrest due to the administration’s tug-of-war. The spokesperson for the Catalan education workers’ union (USTEC), Iolanda Seguraexplains to Public that there is “a lot of discomfort among the teaching staff because of the delay and because their opinion has not been taken into account.” He affirms that the new more “competence” approach responds to “political interests” and not to the “real needs” of the students.
Criticisms of the competency approach of the new selectivity
In this sense, USTEC shows its rejection of the “new competence orientation of the Department because it comes from the OECD” and “responds to the economic interests of the business world” instead of emerging from a “broad debate within the educational community.”
The Spanish Government defends that this design will prevent students from having to memorize content and will promote “creativity and the capacity for critical thinking, reflection and maturity in solving a series of questions in writing.” Furthermore, the statements will be based on contexts close to the lives of young people and in “real” environments.
Criticism for the “insufficient” time to prepare for the selectivity
Segura blames the Catalan and Spanish administrations for the lack of “time” to implement the changes effectively. He points out that it is an “overload of work” for the teachers and that the students are worried. “It’s always the same; they don’t understand that much of educational success depends on prior planning“he laments.
Chronology of regulatory changes
The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports proposed a new selectivity in 2022 to adapt it to the latest educational reform – known as LOMLOE or Celaá Law ―and for match correction criteriabasic characteristics and structure in all autonomous communities.
The reform should have been applied in the 2023/2024 academic year, but The Government paralyzed the processing of the decree at the end of May 2023 due to the call for general elections for him 23-J. The ministry hid behind the fact that the approval of the rule “would exceed the powers” of the acting executive and could generate “confrontation with the regional administrations.”
After several years of modifications and postponements, this June the Council of Ministers finally approved the decree that regulates the requirements for access to undergraduate university studies, the basic characteristics of the test and the admission procedures. This new regulation has eliminated the differences in nomenclature: throughout the State the exam must be referred to as University Entrance Test (PAU) ―as it was already called in Catalonia― and not Evaluation of the Baccalaureate for Access to the University (EBAU either EvAU).
What will change this June?
For the first time in the history of selectivity, the new regulations establish that all correctors and examiners throughout the State must follow certain guidelines with common correction and grading criteria and objectives. In addition, starting with the next call (June 2025), spelling, grammar, cohesion and coherence will gain more weight in the punctuation. As indicated by the ministry itself in a statement, 10% of the grade for each question will depend on the student’s writing.
Another notable novelty is the elimination of the two options. From now on, students will not be able to choose between different alternatives, since there will be a single exam model. This measure seeks to prevent students from not studying some topics in History or History of Philosophy, for example, by not being able to rule them out in any option.
The USTEC spokesperson criticizes this change, since “it forces teachers to teach all curricular material“, a task that he considers “impossible.” “Teaching everything implies less preparation and depth and more stress for teachers and students,” he adds.
Regarding the questions, the 70% of the exam score will come from open or semi-open statements; That is, multiple choice tests will be reduced and students will have more space to develop their answers. In addition, they may have auxiliary material such as dictionaries, chemistry tables or calculators.
#Teachers #students #Catalonia #criticize #lack #time #adapt #selectivity
