From Monday, June 21, students at the terminal wipe the plaster of the Grand Oral. A new baccalaureate test, requested by National Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanker and prepared in difficult circumstances this academic year, will prevent the spread of Covid-19 contagion and distance and face-to-face lessons. In Italy and Germany, students have long held at least one oral test at the baccalaureate, while students in Ireland are likely to receive an undergraduate degree in 2021 due to the turmoil in the organization of the exam.

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About 40% of the notes in Italy are coloquio

In Italy, from June 14, 2021, students will be equal to the Grand Oral. The French event is inspired by what was organized on the other side of the Alps: Coloquio. Some fear that it was modified just before the epidemic. It should have been considered a little more in maturity, the last symbol of the Italian Baccalaureate. But Covid is liable, the only test conducted in 2020 (there was no test in France). This is in 2021. 40% of the final mark can be calculated for Coloquio, Compared to 10% in France. This will last longer: one hour in Italy, 20 minutes in the Grand Oral, and Transalpine students will face seven members of the jury, including their three teachers.

Coloquio modified it to be more personal and less theoretical. Students are required to take their work-study course, compulsory before bachelorette in Italy, and their professional experience is questioned. This is important because at the European level, Italy is a country where young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are out of work and out of school. They are 1 in 5 more than in Romania and Bulgaria. So the goal is to give them some professional experience and teach them to express themselves orally.

Oral can write in German

In Germany, verbal communication exists on all subjects and everywhere. It is inseparable from the education of the students. “Some students express themselves better orally than in writing, and when the two are combined, it is considered to give a complete picture of the candidates.”, Explains Ilf Hoffmann, AFP, Education and Science Union.

Evidence that orals are highly valued, Abitour, equivalent to a bachelorette, may be required to write an oral exam, although the law is not the same everywhere in the 16 lenders in the country. Every written exam! Each student writes their own exam, usually choosing at least three or four written subjects and one or two should be oral. But when young Germans find it easy on many subjects, they do not hesitate, adding verbal tests. This gives them excellent marks and overall average.

Oral is very common throughout the school year with the idea of ​​re-improving the public average through lectures and presentations. Class participation is also noted. If so The student is worried about a written subject and the teacher should offer to give a presentation so that he can get good marks. Instead of being alone in front of his copy, the teacher will question the student. He will be asked to explain and argue, sometimes even in a group.

Oral is ultimately seen as a tool for improving oneself and knowing how to express oneself, and later, in one’s professional career, with colleagues or hierarchies. German students value this form of matter almost as important. From an early age, they learn to dress and care for their smiles.

Large oral bounties in Ireland

High school students can choose between the traditional method of conducting tests or relying solely on continuous evaluation on the Ice of Trophy. In the first case, the best score is calculated. Fortunately for Irish students this year in 2021, those who wrote the oral exam in modern languages ​​(the only subject assessed at the oral level in the bachelorette) are less likely to get a grade.

Generally, these oral exams are conducted by certified examiners who do not know the students. But in 2021 students had to be evaluated by their own teachers and the interview had to be recorded before being sent to a grading committee. Problem: Some teachers forgot to ask questions or did not follow the instructions sent by the committee. She feels that she cannot evaluate these students and will not give marks for related questions.

Teachers justify themselves by saying that they are not trained and that preparation for the oral exam is slow. The back format was validated in February, less than two months after the exam. The education minister declined to give figures on the number of students being fined and the grading process still going on.

Already in 2020, the rating was full of problems. Teachers need to “calculate” the marks their students had on the exam. The method needs to be reviewed along the way. Parents and students expect this to be the case in 2021 as well. They think it’s unfair to pay for a teacher’s mistake, but in the worst case, it’s best to maintain a grade of continuous assessment, if at all. Will bear fruit on September 3rd.