Controversy over new matriculation test system
Israeli students must pass their 'bagrut' – a series of standardized subject tests – to graduate high school, and this year for the first time 30 percent of their grade will be based on research papers – leading to complaints about an overly onerous workload.
A new format for Israel's bagrut tests (mandatory matriculation tests required to graduate high school) is currently being implemented and causing controversy.
The main change is that 30 percent of the bagrut grade is to be based on research papers, while previously the entire grade was based on testing. The bagrut tests are now to only be taken in the 11th and 12th grades, whereas before 10th graders took them as well.
Protestations by 11th graders who say they are cracking under the pressure have grown in recent weeks. "There's a pretense about the 'alternate assessment' that it's really studious and in-depth learning for students, but right now implementation on the ground is extremely imperfect," said Tomer, a high school student from Tel Aviv.
Students at a Tel Aviv high school recently issued a statement calling for a "guinea pig protest". They said that "separating the grading 30/70, which was supposed to make things easier for students, collapsed because those supervising the different subjects didn't reduce the amount of material."
Others support the reform, which was spearheaded by former education minister Shai Piron. The Education Ministry decided, for example, to remove the subject of the Holocaust from the external history exam (which is national, not specific to any schools) in favor of including it as a research subject, the idea being that students would dive deeper into the subject. Eleventh graders study 115 hours of history a year, of which 35 are dedicated to research. Students are required to prepare three papers on their different subjects of their choice, with the paper grades being weighted with the test scores.
Like many 11th graders, student Nevo Eliezer agreed that the school year has been burdensome, but also said he believes the implementation should be separated from the actual idea. Eliezer said he and his friends decided to study the topic of sanctity of life through research on sports in WWII ghettos. "We play soccer after school too, and we decided to focus on the children in the ghettos who tried to keep living despite everything. I feel that now we are really researching the subject, which allows us to understand and remember it better."
