2017 Baccalaureate exam
The results of the summer Baccalaureate exam are slightly higher than last years in most counties across Romania. The pass rate has also gone up
Mihai Pelin, 06.07.2017, 00:56
71.4% was this years pass rate for the summer Baccalaureate exam, 5% more than last year, according to the pre-appeal list of results. This is the highest pass rate in the last eight years. Moreover, 97 high-school students all over the country grabbed a perfect score. The best results were recorded in Sibiu, Bacau, Iasi and Cluj counties, while Ilfov and Giurgiu have reported the poorest results.
Education Minister Liviu Pop said this years high score in the Baccalaureate exam is not related to the difficulty of the requirements, but proof that students trained harder. This year, philology-oriented high-schools reported higher grades, while students enrolled in technical high-schools had a lower pass rate. A recurrent problem is the high number of high-schools with zero pass rate, one the Education Minister has acknowledged.
Liviu Pop: “As compared to last year, we have a higher pass rate. Weve noticed, unfortunately, that with the amendment of the education law that stipulated a single Baccalaureate exam for all, the pass rate in technical high-schools has dropped and has gone up in philology-oriented high-schools. There are still high-schools where no student passed. We should focus more on that, so as to prevent situations like that from happening in the future.
The National Liberal Party have expressed their support for two separate exams, addressing students of technical and philological high-schools, so as to make sure students can access the labor market as well as higher-education. Liberal vice-president Raluca Turcan says the Baccalaureate results compel the authorities to take urgent action to support education.
This exam, Turcan argues, has become a tool for getting young people unemployed, without qualifications, practical skills or any prospects of getting on the labor market. Of the total of 135,000 students who signed up for this years exam, 100 failed all tests. Unfortunately, the earliest they can resit the exam is autumn next year.
