School Examinations and COVID-19: Lessons from EU to UK Schools

The novel coronavirus crisis has affected many everyone across the globe. All European schools had to take drastic measures and the first response was to close down schools. But soon after that, most of the countries have rolled out measures to reopen so that the education system does not paralyze completely while at the same time no student is put at risk of transmission.

School Leavers Examinations in Germany

Earlier in the year, there was a concern by the state officials on whether schools in Germany should proceed with the Abitur exams or not. This is one of the school exit exams that is performed before proceeding to University.

Even though schools have reopened right now amid tight measures of social distancing, the state officials had already agreed that these exams will still go on even if other students will have to stay home.

German schools are encouraging students to maintain a minimum of 1.5 meters distance, wash their hands, and report any cases of fellow students who shows signs of illness.

This remains a big lesson to UK schools, which have been closed since March. As of now, the schools have been reopening in phases while most of the learning has been taken online. However, one thing is clear: the entire country will not do school exit examinations.

A Lesson from Italy

Even with the end of lockdowns, the schools in Italy have remained closed. The officials say that they will be open in September. However, students took oral exams in mid-June in a bid to keep the education system alive. Online learning has been ongoing in the country.

Italy, together with the UK, have been preparing their schools for reopening. One of the biggest concerns is how to maintain social distance among the students. A common proposal in both countries is for schools to consider expanding their structures to increase learning space.

In the UK, for instance, Smart Space has come through to help schools in achieving this goal. The company has a reputation for turnkey temporary structures in either modular or custom-made classrooms. If your school is in the UK, go to this website to learn more about them and then give them a call to discuss further.

Exams Approach in Other European Countries

The Slovakia and Czech Republic only postponed the end-of-year examination to an undisclosed date but did not cancel it. They are optimistic that things will get back to normal and students will sit for their examinations. As such, they are working hard to ensure that studies are ongoing on an online basis. The priority is to keep students in their final year learning so that they are ready to sit for their examination when the time comes.

France is one of the few EU countries that have canceled exams. In April this year, the state government announced the historic cancellation of baccalauréat examinations, which has not happened since 1808 when it was introduced. But how are the final year students going to be graded? Well, the government has given a guideline on all the students’ work, which will contribute to their final marks.

The other EU country that canceled the final year examination is the Netherlands. The students’ coursework was used to award marks, which resulted in recording high average results.

Conclusion

There is a lot for UK schools to learn from these EU countries that have already taken extra steps with their examination. They have set the pace for Britain and many other schools throughout the word.

As of now, the UK government is focused on getting kids back in school. They have set strict measures and hope that this will be a big success.