About this moment, approximately 1/3 of the candidates’ papers for the Pan-Cyprus Examinations have been graded and recorded in the computerized system and are considered complete, Dr. Sokratis Mylonas, First Education Officer, Head of the Examination Service, Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, told KYPE.
“There is still 1/3 of the papers that are in various stages of proofreading, filing and proofreading, and we have the final third, which is in the earliest stages of proofreading,” he added.
The Pan-Cypriot Examinations concluded yesterday, Friday with the Common Core Mathematics course. Responding to a related question, Mr. Mylonas said that “everything went smoothly”, without any particular problems, adding that the candidates’ papers amount to 21-22 thousand which are graded by two raters.
Asked to comment on the issue of the facilities granted, Mr. Mylonas said that the Special Commission for the provision of facilities defined by the legislation of the Pan-Cypriot Examinations operates in accordance with the specific legislation and provided the candidates with a wide range of facilities according to the needs of each candidate.
“These may be time extensions – which is the contentious issue that has been brought up in recent days. It can be short breaks, it can be other exceptions, for example the possibility for a candidate to sit the test alone in a place, if he is facing a special problem or in another place outside the examination center, for example in a hospital or even at home. So some problems are addressed which were examined by the Commission, and the specific facility was approved”, he added.
As Mr. Mylonas said, there are many facilities.
“One can see them in a relevant circular that we have issued as the Examination Service along with the announcement of facilities and candidate slips given to the candidates before the exams,” he added.
Regarding the specific issue that gained publicity with the granting of additional time to a number of candidates, Mr. Mylonas said that the Special Committee examined several such cases, but as a rule the provision of this facility was given to candidates who requested the additional time. He explained that in these cases, the specific facility had been granted in advance by the Provincial Committees for Special Education and Education, as special education children, after a thorough evaluation that had been done beforehand.
“In other words, it is not something that appeared now in the Pancypriot Examinations, but a facility that students have been receiving throughout the ages, possibly from previous grades, perhaps even from High School. The Special Commission for the provision of facilities granted all Cyprus 5 facilities of this type, i.e. extension of time to candidates who were not previously approved by the Provincial Committees and concerns children with very serious health problems. In Paphos in particular, where the specific issue was mentioned, such a case had been approved. So unequivocally, I state that this specific facility was given to children who had already secured it previously”, he noted.
Regarding what the process is now after the completion of the Pan-Cypriot exams, Mr. Mylonas said that the papers are gathered in the Examinations Service building. “Each essay is graded by 2 independent graders,” he continued, noting that candidates’ names are masked and only revealed when the grading process by all graders is complete.
“Also, each grader grades independently and does not see the grade of the previous grader” so the grade of the first is covered before being given to the second for grading, he added.
He noted, at the same time, that in the event that a difference of more than 10% arises after the scores of the two raters have been revealed and entered in their computerized system, in accordance with the provisions of the legislation for the Pan-Cypriot Examinations, a re-scorer is called, who also submits his score. “According to the law, the final score in this case is essentially the average of the 3 raters,” he added.
Mr. Mylonas said that at this stage the grading process for the courses of the first days has already started. “You realize that courses such as New Greek, which are too many candidates and a paper that needs special attention in grading, are ongoing, but we have progressed quite a bit. The same with other courses they have given since. Around this time, approximately 1/3 of the papers have been graded and recorded in the computerized system and are considered complete. There is still 1/3 of the writing that is in various stages of proofreading, filing, and proofreading, and we have the last third, which is in the earliest stages of proofreading. We hope that our procedures will be completed according to the schedule that we had previously announced, that is, around July 24,” he said.
Subsequently, he said, they announce both the grades in the written papers and the places secured by the candidates, according to the application they have made for the Universities of Cyprus.
“And there begins the process for those who have declared that they are interested in securing positions at the Universities of Greece. There will be a relevant announcement to proceed with the procedures for claiming a position for the Universities of Greece. Just to remind candidates and parents of candidates who are students that these exams are essentially placement exams,” he added.
So, said Mr. Mylonas, “where parents sometimes see that their children may have found a piece of writing demanding or difficult, I want them to remember that all candidates must have faced a similar difficulty”.