Romanian National Exam Subject Developers Resigned – Education Min

Romanian education minister Ecaterina Andronescu demanded Friday the resignation of the two people in charge with developing the subjects for the national exams of Romanian language and literature, namely Stan Mihail and Dumitru Savulescu.

The minister said the responsibility for the mistake made in the exam subject was made by the National Center for Curriculum and Evaluation in High School Education (CNCEIP), and a ministry commission has been organized to analyze the matter.

According to the dignitary, the two people in charge with developing the subjects are Stan Mihail, adviser within CNCEIP and director Dumitru Savulescu.

"If they don’t resign, then I will ask them to do so. The responsibility for the situation occurred belongs to Mihail Stan. He was the one in charge with developing the subjects and the correction grid for each class taking the exam," Andronescu said.

Dumitru Savulescu from CNEIP was nominated by the institution’s general director to take over the responsibilities of the Center regarding the national Romanian language exams.

Ecaterina Andronescu a said the mistake made in the subjects had no impact on the solution to the questions, so the students will not lose points.

The National Federation of Parent Associations asked the education minister to dismiss the ones who coordinated the development of the national exam subjects.

In the first item of the exam, eighth graders had to answer eight questions from a fragment of the sketch "Triumful talentului", by Ion Luca Caragiale.

Thus, in the questions, there was a switch between the names of two characters in the sketch: Ghita Nitescu and Nita Ghitescu.

The secretary of state in charge with high school education within the Ministry of Education, Adriana Pana, said the name switch had no impact on the exam, specifically on the correction of papers, namely it cannot influence the grade.

"This is a text at first sight. The name switch cannot affect the candidate’s grade, since there is no question regarding the name of one of the two characters," Pana explained.

The CNCEIP stated the text involved in the scandal, selected from a student book, was used for an average level of eighth graders, with the purpose of testing the expression of one’s own opinion regarding the meaning of a text seen for the first time or the message identified in the text.

The quoted source added that, in accordance with the objectives of the evaluation, the text could have been modified and adapted to the questions addressed to the one taken the exam.

"Therefore, the aim was not an evaluation of a text by Caragiale, as a whole. In conclusion, the fragment used as support, in the format shown to students, did not have an impact on the solution to questions, and students will not lose points for the explained opinions they have expressed in their papers," said the Ministry of Education.
 

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