It was one of the many possibilities that the Ministry of Education had on the table. The least recommended by teachers, the most popular by students. Finally, after a meeting of Isabel Celaá with the counselors of each autonomous community, Spain will apply for the general approval in the primary, secondary, and high school courses. The schools have been closed since March 11. They will not reopen.
Terms. The decision affects more than eight million students. The vast majority will pass the course. Not all will do it with the same grade, although for their evaluation, only the results obtained during the first and second trimesters will be taken into account. The third will only compute positively, that is, to diagnose upward, but will have no practical effect.
Development. Each student will receive a personalized report from their teacher. There will be pending subjects, to be recovered throughout the following course, but the repetitions will be reserved for very exceptional cases and with prior authorization from the administration. According to El Mundo, schools will remain open during July to offer extraordinary classes to students with the greatest needs.
The reinforcement plans, meanwhile, will be developed during the next academic year, taking time away from other subjects and forcing the deployment of specific teachers.
Selectivity? The specific conditions for the Baccalaureate Second are to be defined, although it is expected that their evaluation will depend solely on the first and second trimester. It is a more delicate case due to the imminence of Selectivity, postponed to July in up to ten communities, and simplified so as not to harm students. The last months are vital in preparing for the test.
The motives. In the background, the closing of the classrooms offered a window of opportunity for telematics and more experimental pedagogical models. Its effectiveness has been weighed down by the socioeconomic differences associated with the use of new technologies. At least 10% of the students do not have tools or an Internet connection, which generated a gap that is difficult to combine with equal opportunities.
The idea of continuing the cases and taking them into account for the evaluation had been discussed by experts and associations such as Save The Children, given the performance gap is generated. Instead, it proposed four measures, including adjusting the evaluation criteria:
Many families do not have the necessary devices or, more importantly, the skills and cultural level to accompany children in much more autonomous learning. Thus it is impossible to guarantee equal opportunities. A part of the students is not following the rhythm and runs the risk of leaving the school, and even dropping out.
Problems. The School Board endorsed the idea and transmitted a similar recommendation to the government. The concept of offering reinforcement classes during July, however, is observed with reservations in part of the educational community. Many centers do not have the necessary conditioning to deal with long teaching hours at temperatures above 35º C. It is a matter of concern even in other seasons.
Repetitions. The measure represents a parenthesis in the high repetition rate in Spain. It is one of the developed countries where more students are in a course that does not correspond to them (around 28%, above the average of 11%). The scarcely generous nature of the system and the dubious evidence surrounding the benefits of repeating have been included in the recommendations to suspend it this year.
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