Final Examination at the Secondary School
An interesting thing about last year was the fact that it was the last time school-leaving examinations were conducted in the traditional system. Besides the provisions of the Public Education Act, the regulations regarding school-leaving examinations were also contained in Government Decree No. 100/1997 (VI. 13.) on the Promulgation of the Examination Regulations of School-Leaving Examinations.
The timing of school-leaving examinations could burden examinees to smaller or greater extent. However, this fact in itself is not considered a violation of rights.
| The petitioner complained that in 2004 school-leaving examination in mathematics and Russian language both fell on the same day. In his opinion students choosing to take the Russian examination did not stand an equal chance to students who chose other foreign languages.
According to the Ministry of Education similar cases occur quite frequently. According to the decree on the 2003/2004 school year the above is true for all educational systems and for all types of training. Therefore it is clear is the statutes, instead of prohibiting this practice, prescribe it.
In light of this, the only question left to examine is whether the statutes themselves breach equal opportunities. It is our position that this issue has no connection to the constitutional prohibition of negative discrimination. Our previous inquiries show that5 the above practice is also performed by higher education institutions during entrance examinations. In their case, if a university department requires that students take entrance examinations in several subjects in order to be admitted, then usually the entrance exams for the two subjects are on the same day, possibly one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Complaints protesting such practice have been always dismissed by our office. (K-OJOG-425/2004.)
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The statutes allow that students with special education needs taking school-leaving examinations are granted certain benefits at the examination, but this does not mean they are not required to take the exams.
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The daughter of the petitioner is dyslexic. He asked us whether the statutes allow dyslexic students with intermediate oral foreign language examinations, who have been granted exemptions from the written part of the school-leaving examinations, to have the foreign language examination be counted as equivalent with the school-leaving examination.
The statutes give a very clear answer to this question. Paragraph (10) of Article 61 of the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations states that students who are in possession of an at least intermediate Type "C" (mono or bilingual) state recognised foreign language examination certificate or an equivalent document shall be considered as students who have successfully passed a foreign language school-leaving examination. Public education regulations do not allow exceptions trio this rule, therefore, only students with a Type "C" foreign language examination certificate or an equivalent document can be granted exemption from taking the examinations.
Another issue to examine is whether the statutory provision described above is in harmony with higher level legal standards, namely whether the constitutional provision prohibiting negative discrimination is being breached during the application of the aforementioned other provision. In the interest of enforcing the provision prohibiting negative discrimination the legislator is obligated to ensure equal opportunities for students with special educational needs, more precisely to ensure that they are able to fulfil their educational obligations by meeting special requirements that are appropriate for their particular disability.
Having examined the statutes, we are now on the position that the legislator has fulfilled its obligation mentioned above. Paragraph (9) of Article 30 of the Public Education Act states that students with special education needs shall be ensured treatment different than students with no special education needs. The Act lists several solutions and it is one of these solutions based on which the petitioners written test was changed to an oral examination. At the same time, the prohibition of negative discrimination does not require that further different rules be established for students with special education needs beyond the above.
Based on the above, we have informed the petitioner that his daughter, on the basis of an intermediate oral foreign language examination, cannot automatically get a 5 (excellent) grade and will have to take the school-leaving examination. (K-OJOG-221/2004.) |
If as a result of special education needs the student has been previously been granted exemption during his or her earlier studies from evaluation in certain subjects, then this exemption can be applied at the school-leaving examinations as well, and the student must take an examination in a subject of his or her choice to replace the other compulsory subject.
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The problem indicated by the petitioner surfaced in relation to a student who was granted exemption from evaluation in foreign languages, mathematics and spelling. This means there are two compulsory subjects the student has been exempted from at the school-leaving examinations, and at the same time the range of subjects left to choose from has been significantly barrowed down. The petitioner inquired how many subjects the exemption from school-leaving examinations can be applied to, and whether students in such situations can finish their secondary school studies at all if they are exempted from taking more than half of the compulsory examinations. Wee have informed the petitioner that the Public Education Act does not restrict the number of subjects the exemption from school-leaving examinations can be applied to. If during secondary school studies the professional opinion of the expert and rehabilitation committee recommends a student's exemption from evaluation and assessment in certain subjects, then in accordance with Paragraph (7) of Article 6 of the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations said student can take a school-leaving examinations in subjects of his or her choice. Therefore, if the student has been admitted to the institution and during secondary school studies has taken advantage of the exemption opportunity specified by the statutes, then this opportunity must also be ensured at the school-leaving examinations. (K-OJOG-802/2004) |
We have received numerous complaints regarding bilingual school-leaving examinations and school-leaving examinations in languages of national, ethnic minorities.
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The petitioner asked us whether he is allowed to take a school-leaving examination in lovari language. We have informed him that provided his school participates in the teaching of national and ethnic minorities and at this secondary school subjects are taught, besides Hungarian, in lovari as well, then he is not only allowed to do so, but is also required to. If, however the secondary school he attends is not such a school, then he has to take a school-leaving examination in the language the school teaches. (K-OJOG-129/2004.) |
A student came to us with a very similar problem; he was requesting information on Romanian language school-leaving examinations.
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We informed him that the regulations regarding school-leaving examinations in languages of national, ethnic minorities are also contained in the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations. In accordance with Article 53 of said Decree, provided the petitioner's school participates in the teaching of national and ethnic minorities and at this secondary school subjects are taught, besides Hungarian, in another language as well, then he is not only allowed to do take school-leaving examinations in that language, but is also required to. If, however the secondary school he attends is not such a school, then he has to take a school-leaving examination in the foreign language the school teaches. School-Leaving Examination in Romanian language can only be replaced with an intermediate Type "C" Romanian foreign language examination if Romanian is a one of the languages featured on the school-leaving examination. (K-OJOG-738/2004.) |
As in all other procedural activities involving data handling, the conducting of school-leaving examinations can also bring up data protection issues.
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The principal of a public education institution came to us and asked whether it is a data protection issue if the institution provides the head of the examination board with the characterisation of examinees.
The obligations of public education institutions regarding students extend to not just teaching but to education as well. With respect to tasks related to education, the handling and use of the data described by the principal might be justified. In contrast however, the school-leaving examination is not about education; here students only give account of the knowledge they have acquired, of whether they have met the objective requirements that are required of them in the public education system.
The data indicated by the principal, therefore, are not relevant in this respect, and this means that the provision of these data to the head of the examination board is not justified. Pursuant to Article 5 of the Data Protection Act, only personal data that can be used to reach the desired goal shall be forwarded. The forwarding of irrelevant data therefore would be unlawful. (K-OJOG-351/2004.) |
If someone feels that the decision of the school-leaving examination board violates rights, then he or she can submit a petition submitted on legal ground following the making of said decision. The petition is considered by the National Centre for Assessment and Examination in Public Education. It is advisable that all examinees are aware of the rules of legal remedy proceedings functioning as a guarantee. There is a very brief time period in which the proceedings can be launched.
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We have informed the complainant that pursuant to Paragraph (5) of Article 84 of the Public Education Act, within three working days of the decision, the parent or the student may submit-to the National Centre for Assessment and Examination in Public Education-a petition on legal grounds referring to a breach of statutes, appealing against the decisions, measures or the absence of measures taken by the school-leaving examination board. The petition on legal ground will be considered by the National Centre for Assessment and Examination in Public Education within 3 working days. Failure to meet the deadline specified for the petition of the petition will result in the loss of rights. This means that after the passing of the deadline, legal remedy proceedings cannot be launched on any grounds. (K-OJOG-538/2004.) |
The year 2005 saw the introduction of the new, two-level school-leaving examination system. The transition to the new system brought up a number of issues. We have already received numerous petitions and complaints in 2004, because students taking their school-leaving examinations in 2005 wanted to be in the picture early ass to what they can expect.
The new examination system is familiar with the concept of early school-leaving examination. The question arising in connection with this is when and under what circumstances are students allowed to take an early school-leaving examination. The issue has particular significance because in 2005, the year of the transition, a foreign language examination certificate can still be considered equivalent to a foreign language school-leaving examination.
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We have informed petitioners that pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Article 12 of the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations, school-leaving examinations may be taken in subjects, for which the student has met the requirements specified in the local curriculum, his knowledge of which has been evaluated with a grade and the student can certify this with the report card.
If the student has a state-recognised foreign language examination in the given foreign language, which is taught in accordance with the school's local curriculum then the following rules apply.
Paragraph (10) of Article 61 of the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations states that students who are in possession of an at least intermediate Type "C" (mono or bilingual) state recognised foreign language examination certificate or an equivalent document shall be considered as students who have successfully passed a foreign language school-leaving examination in the examination period between 2002 and 2005. In the case of an at least intermediate Type "C" state recognised foreign language examination certificate or an equivalent document, the student's knowledge must be graded as 5 (excellent) until 2004, and in 2005 as an advanced level 5 (100%). With respect to school-leaving examinations organised and conducted after 2005, the statute quoted above states that students with a foreign language examination certificate shall not be granted exemption from taking the foreign language school-leaving examinations. (K-OJOG-100/2004, K-OJOG-405/2004, K-OJOG-557/2004) |
In our opinion, based on the statues, the above question can be answered very clearly, however, in spite of this, the Ministry of Education provided a legal definition contradicting us in the publication titled "The Two-Level School-Leaving Examination System as of 2005". The position taken on page 22 of the publication states that "students who are in the 9 th grade in the 2002/2003 academic year can take an early school-leaving examination in 2005 in foreign languages, but they can no longer be exempted from taking this examination on the grounds of having a foreign language examination certificate." The publication attached the following explanation: "The examination regulations determine that such students are obligated to take standard or advanced level school-leaving examinations and early final examinations are in fact obligatory examination which cannot be replaced with other examinations (foreign language examination certificates)."
We feel this argument is faulty. Pursuant to the already quoted Paragraph (10) of Article 61 of the Decree on School-leaving Examinations, early school-leaving examinations can be organised in 2005 and at this examination foreign language examination certificates can replace the school-leaving examination. The statute does not say whether the early examination is indeed a compulsory examination, and that the provisions of Paragraph (10) of Article 61 should not be applied to this examination. We have informed petitioners about this. (K-OJOG-321/2004.) It did not take long after this and publications of the Ministry of Education and their positions published on the website provided a legal definition that was identical to ours.
The significance of the issue is clearly indicated by the fact that we have received numerous other inquiries regarding the role of foreign language examination certificates in replacing school-leaving examinations.
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One of the petitioners requested information about how to interpret the provisions of the often quoted Paragraph (10) of Article 61 of the Act on School-leaving Examinations. More precisely, what exactly does the decree refer to by state-recognised foreign language examination certificate or equivalent documents, and until when must students acquire these in order to enforce exemption in these subjects.
Government Decree No. 71/1998 (IV. 8.) on the Procedures of State-Recognised Foreign Language Examinations and on Foreign Language Examination Certificates uses the term equivalence with two meanings. Pursuant of Point e) of Paragraph (2) of Article 5, we are talking about equivalence in the case of foreign language examinations taken in accordance with foreign language examination systems recognised in other countries, and in such situations it is the Accreditation Centre of Foreign language examinations which decides. In accordance with Paragraph (16) of Article 13, the baccalaureate certificate of advanced level foreign language school-leaving examination is equivalent to a state-recognised foreign language examination certificate.
Based on this we can determine that the examinee can only be granted exemption from the foreign language examination if he or she has acquired one of the above certificates by the time of the start of the school-leaving examination. The start of the school-leaving examination-in case the examination consists of several parts-is the time the examinee starts examination with the first section. (K-OJOG-367/2004.) |
One of the special cases of equivalency with foreign language school-leaving examinations is when Hungarian literature and grammar qualifies as a foreign language.
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The petitioner is not a Hungarian citizen; however, he wishes to take his school-leaving examination in Hungary . He inquired about how to go about taking the examination in Hungarian literature and grammar. We have informed him that in accordance with Paragraph (6) of Article 6 of the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations, if the examinee is not a Hungarian citizen and his mother tongue is not Hungarian, then the examination in Hungarian literature and grammar will be equivalent to a compulsory examination in a foreign language. Pursuant of Paragraph (10) of Article 61 of the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations, students who are in possession of an at least intermediate Type "C" (mono or bilingual) state recognised foreign language examination certificate or an equivalent document shall be considered as students who have successfully passed a foreign language school-leaving examination in the examination period between 2002 and 2005. In the case of an at least intermediate Type "C" state recognised foreign language examination certificate or an equivalent document, the student's knowledge must be graded as 5 (excellent) until 2004, and in 2005 as an advanced level 5, and the percentage value must be indicated in the report card. (K-OJOG-398/2004.) |
There have been objections in connection with the two-level school-leaving examination system even before its introduction. We must examine whether the statute-which as yet has not entered into force, but which is a legally existing statute nonetheless-will violate the educational rights of students.
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A complainant came to our office and protested that the introduction of the two-level school-leaving examinations allows certain students to finish their secondary school studies with fewer examinations of lower quality while simultaneously taking the entrance examination to higher education institutions, and this opportunity is unavailable for some of their less fortunate peers. According to the petitioner, students for example who plan on becoming dentists are at a disadvantage compared to students going to law school, because the latter, by taking school-leaving examinations in Hungarian literature and history at the same time also take the entrance examination, while the other student, besides the compulsory baccalaureate subjects, also has to study physics, biology and possibly chemistry as well.
It is our position that the above topic and the constitutional provision prohibiting negative discrimination have no relation. The problem raised by the petitioner is by no means a new one. Until now, higher education institutions always had entrance examinations and students applying to law school usually took entrance examinations in the same subject as they did at their baccalaureate exam; while students applying to medical faculties always had to give account of their knowledge in the subjects of physics, biology and potentially chemistry.
The determination of the subjects of school-leaving examinations is the responsibility of the legislator. This decision is based on cultural policy deliberations. The determination of the subjects of entrance examinations is the responsibility of higher education institutions. This decision is based on professional deliberations. For this reason the two groups do not necessarily overlap, but it cannot be said for certain that students whose chosen profession supposes a knowledge of other areas of science are being negatively discriminated against as opposed to students in whose case this is identical to compulsory school-leaving examination subjects. (K-OJOG-478/2004.) |
Another important issue raised is what guarantees teacher impartiality at the advanced level school-leaving examination.
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A petitioner requested information as to what it means exactly that students must take the examination before an independent examination board. We informed him that the statutes related to school-leaving examinations do not use the phrase "students must take the examination before an independent examination board". The term independence is found expressis verbis in neither the Public Education Act, nor the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations. However, independence is still ensured by other provisions of the statutes. The Government Decree on School-leaving Examinations, among separate provision regarding advanced level school-leaving examinations, in Article 07/A states that supervising teachers at written school-leaving examinations are appointed by the National Examinations Centre, while oral examinations are conducted before a three-member specialised board, the members and administration officer of which is also appointed by the National Examinations Centre. Members of the specialised examination board must be persons who meet the requirements set against examining teachers, and who have completed the preparatory further training regarding the organisation of school-leaving examinations required by the National Examinations Centre. The head of the specialised board must be a person who meets the requirements set against board members and who is featured in the National Register of Examiners. The legislator did not feel the need to set further requirements; however, in our opinion adherence to these regulations can achieve the necessary independence. (K-OJOG-372/2004.) |
A very important issue addressed to us by examinees in connection with two-level school-leaving examinations is the level of preparatory training they receive in various subjects and whether they are entitled to demand preparation for advanced level examinations from the school.
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We have informed the petitioner that pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Article 4 of the Decree on School-Leaving Examinations, besides compulsory school-leaving examination subjects, the secondary school determines in its local curriculum in connection with which further-at least two more-subjects it will provide preparatory trainings. Besides preparation for advanced level examinations, and apart from the compulsory school-leaving examination subjects, the school must provide trainings preparing for standard level school-leaving examinations in at least three other subjects. There are no exceptions to this rule, when preparing the local curriculum schools must make sure they can meet this statutory requirement. However, we have drawn the petitioner's attention to the fact that for the purposes of this paragraph foreign language subjects shall be considered as one subject. (K-OJOG-490/2004.) |
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