The Forum of Secondary Vocational Schools said on June 25 that the average mother-tongue score in the final primary-school exam was 10.67 points, down 0.88 points from the previous school year. The organization says the decline should not be ignored and calls for a review of curricula, grading criteria, and pupils' functional literacy.
Vocational-school forum: education is in a serious state, do not ignore lower final-exam results
(Forum srednjih stručnih škola: Stanje u obrazovanju ozbiljno, ne ignorisati pad rezultata na maturi)
N1 carries the Forum of Secondary Vocational Schools statement: the average score on this year's mother-tongue test was 10.67 points, 0.88 points lower than in the previous school year. Forum president Milorad Antic said such a decline must not be ignored, and that school directors, services, teachers, and the Education Ministry should ask why results show a worrying trend year after year. The forum also points to insufficient focus on reasoning, critical thinking, and functional literacy, as well as the possible "inflation" of excellent grades and uneven grading criteria between schools.
Read sourceVocational-school forum on the state of education
(Forum srednjih stručnih škola o stanju u obrazovanju)
Danas publishes the same forum statement and specifies that the mother-tongue test covered Serbian and eight national-minority languages. The forum says causes and responsibility should be discussed openly instead of looking for excuses; if pupils receive high school grades while final exams show a lower level of knowledge, both teaching content and knowledge checks should be reviewed. The organization proposes tests at subject-council level to align criteria and assess pupil achievement more objectively.
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