Urgently cover the material of the courses you are reading! School teachers ask about it Ministry of Education. Its application Thematic bank singled out one of the most important, eternal pathologies Greek education system, and especially secondary education: non-fulfillment of the curriculum. In other words, instructors could formally claim that they had completed the course material they were teaching, but in fact they did not. The last chapters of the textbooks were either not taught at all or were taught on the fly. The subject bank, which is extended to the entire high school this year, forces teachers to complete course material that is reviewed at the end of the year.

disadvantages

On the other hand, the implementation of the Bank indirectly exposes the Ministry of Education to any delays in meeting the shortage of teachers. Because the ministry cannot demand that all material be taught on the merits and not on the fly, and also cover gaps in schools in basic courses by recruiting deputies until November-December. According to the Education Policy Institute (IEP), the Bank has published 18,679 issues to date. There are also 396 more topics that have been approved but not published, and another 586 topics that have been partially approved. As he mentioned talking to “K”IEP President Giannis Antoniouthe total number of items will exceed 20,000.

In particular, the Ministry of Education requests by its circular from secondary school change the timetable to complete the course exam materials that will be written in the entrance and final exams at the end of the year. Among them are modern Greek language and literature, mathematics, history, physics, biology, etc. The request concerns all three grades of high school (and all types), since from this year the use of the Subject Bank becomes universal. The bank was founded in 2021 by the then students of the 1st Lyceum.

Such as clarified by “K” General Secretary of the Ministry of Education Alexander Koptsis, the circular was sent out very early, with the reopening of schools, and the Easter teaching course will be re-evaluated. As defined in the circular, teachers are responsible for coordinating the teaching of courses considered for graduation and final examinations, as well as for completing examination materials. They will decide if the teaching of the lesson is delayed. The principal, in cooperation with the teachers’ association, will decide on the reform of the schedule, i.e. how many hours will be allocated to the course and which courses will “lose” hours. According to Mr. Koptsis, replenishment usually comes from “stealing” hours from other courses taught by the same professor (for example, “News”, “History”).

What is the cause of the arrhythmia?

The delay in the pace of teaching the course, which is due to be completed in May, when the academic year ends, is due solely or, most often, a combination of several reasons. Such as – a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Education told K.One of the reasons for the uneven course of teaching a lesson is the different level of student achievement, which forces the teacher to postpone the understanding of the educational material, even for the weakest. In addition, the delay in recruiting teachers to fill vacancies in schools leads to a late start of teaching the subject. As a result, in January, when schools reopen after the Christmas holidays, the teaching of lessons is delayed.

The subject bank requires completion of the teaching of the courses in question at the end of the year.

In the last three years, the illness of many students at the same time with the coronavirus contributes to delays and loss of pace in teaching the course.

Exams

How has the Subject Bank changed the situation in Greek schools? Before its implementation, teachers declared in the information system of the Ministry of Education the progress of the educational material they taught. In practice, however, they had leeway to teach the last chapters on the fly if there wasn’t enough time in the school year. And this is because they themselves chose the subjects in the graduation and final exams. “In this way, they indirectly pointed out to the students the critical chapters of the material being studied, and everyone was satisfied,” a physics teacher at Attica High School told K.

After creating a topic bank for each course exam, half of the topics are selected by the course instructor and the other half are taken from the topic bank. The draw is held centrally at the Ministry of Education and for each school separately. If a chapter is not taught and a topic is taken from it, the teacher is exposed and may receive protests from students and their parents.

Of course, the decision of the Ministry for each school to take from the bank three subjects – each of different complexity – and from them the teachers of each class or department, facilitated the work of teachers. For example, out of four subjects in mathematics, the teacher will choose two, and the other two will draw a bank. However, it was decided to carry out six issues: three for each of the two issues of the Bank. Of these, the professor will choose which topic to include in the exam. For one thematic block “Language, history” three thematic blocks will be drawn. The professor will choose which subject/thematic block to include in the exam. In this way, the teacher will be able to give preference to topics that he considers more suitable for the level of his students.

“Tool”

Such as Mr. António underlined the “K”.The Theme Bank is a teaching, pedagogical, evaluation and monitoring tool. The Bank is a tool to support learning and teaching and should be treated as such first and foremost. As a pedagogical tool, it serves the evaluation process and is aimed at facilitating, orienting, rather than binding. At the same time, it is an information base that allows for a broader assessment and revision of the course and teaching practice. How a digital subject base is effective if the selected subjects for student assessment contribute to ensuring the principles of validity, reliability and objectivity.