Questions and answers

Dear Colleagues from Bulgaria and the Netherlands,

We would like to ask our Dutch colleagues to complete the information by adding their opinions about the solutions mentioned below. They seem highly interesting to scholars in Slovenia in comparison with our experiences.

• The marks awarded for the examination (1-10): What is the nature (content) of the marks form 1 to 5 (especially 1 to 3; marks 4 and 5 are more intelligible as they help the student to pass the examination under certain conditions ("nearly pass") and they seem to stand for the quality of knowledge immediately bellow the criterion? Could you possibly state the experience gained about the "nearly pass" system and possible criticism of it.
• "It is possible however to take only part of a subject instead of the whole subject..." How is the achievement in such an examination credited in the final mark of the particular subject? Are separate parts of subjects combined into one composite mark? Does it apply to all subjects or to some of them? Please explain the reason for introducing partial subjects.
• As regards the freedom of choice of the examination subject, please explain the reason behind the newly introduced grouping into four subject combinations with (two different) mathematics in common.

Answer:

Dear sirs,

My apologies for not having been able to answer your questions immediately.

As regards the meaning of the marks below 6, which are insufficient: of course they mean 'poor' and even poorer further down. We need however to assess just how badly the tests are done, as the final mark is the average between the school exam and the national exam, and it is possible to get a poor mark for the one and a far better one for the other.

All in all the examination system has a broad acceptance in the Netherlands, and that includes for the rules for passing or not passing. There is, however, a growing tendency to contest the outcome and even bring cases to court, when a pupil and his parents believe that a minor change could be obtained that could change a not-pass into a pass.

We treat a given subject and part of that subject as separate entities. If a pupil decides to take only a part (only one part per subject can be taken separately), he/she is tested only for that part and that part will appear on the diploma.

The reason for introducing partial subjects is that we aim at subject packages that are as much as possible directed at a certain sector of further education. The effect of this is that only limited time is available for subjects to be chosen freely. To make possible still to take certain subjects that might be useful for further education the partial subjects were introduced.

The subject combinations mentioned above have been devised as to prepare the pupils optimally for certain sectors in further education. The fitting of secondary and further education was thus a prime consideration in this decision. The choice to include mathematics in all four combinations comes from the same source: it was understood that no optimal preparation for any sector of further education could do without an amount of mathematics (albeit not the same kind or the same amount).

Please be welcome to investigate deeper into these matters if this might seem useful to you.

Kind regards,
Leo Schoonderwoerd
Netherlands