The Al Sharq newspaper reported on May 30, 2022, the completion of the first high school students' exam of the second semester on 29 May 2022.

The mathematics test received varying feedback, from the students of the science and technological tracks expressing ease and satisfaction with the test, claiming that the test took into consideration individual students' differences. However, students of the literary track expressed disappointment due to the fact that the general maths test was difficult and a minimum of 6 questions were at the standard of an outstanding student.

It was reported that as per the science and technology the students, the test was at the level of the average student, except for the sixth question in the multiple-choice. Furthermore, they claimed expressed that the number of questions were appropriate with the time allocation, allowing for time for review as well.

The literary track students disputed the opinion and expressed their difficulty online on Twitter by launching and circulating the hashtag "#اختبار_الرياضيات_ادبي_تعجيزي" which translates to "#Mathematics_Literary_Mathematics_Exam" on the evening of May 29, 2022. As per them the questions and formulas were absolutely unseen to them and varied completely from that of the mock tests and training. They expected one or two questions to be at the level of the outstanding students, however, in this case, questions totaling a score of 20 points at least were at the level of the outstanding student.

The newspaper also reported the statement of the Administrative Deputy at Hassan Bin Thabet Secondary School for Boys, Mr. Khalil Al Emadi who mentioned that they had not received any complaints from parents or students on the first day after the exams.

The opinions towards the test were contradictory. One student named Nayef Ali Abdullah who was a literary student expressed that the test was made up of 10 objective questions and 3 essay questions with subsections. The objective questions had all been straightforward, however, the essay questions had one question completely at the level of the above-average student. On the contrary, another literary track student mentioned that there was more than one question in the selection and essays at the level of the above-average student, therefore this could impact the final result. He is a student that had achieved a high mark in the first semester but expects the second-semester results to decline. It was further reported that the dispute also comes due to the fact that literary students study 5 theoretical subjects which require memorization whereas scientific subjects are considered difficult to study and require special abilities, thus making it consideration this would be preferred.

Another student expressed that the test included some deceptive questions which one may think answered well, but would be surprised to see that the answer is different. He also anticipates a decrease in the second-semester results.

While the literary track students claimed that questions were completely foreign to them, another science student confirmed that most of the questions came from the mock text models and from the material taught in the courses and were at the level of the general student. The only alignment in opinion was that some questions required more time than that allocated.

Some of the tweets by literary track students expressed that their morale has been broken from the very beginning of the exam season by this incident.

Another science track student, Rayan Bin Aboud also expressed that the test was at the level of an average student and the questions were direct which the majority of students agreeing that only one question in the multiple-choice required more time.

Addressing the matter, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Qatar released a statement on Twitter on 29 May 2022, that the questions were selected from the textbooks and exercises within the curriculum taking in to consideration all of the cognitive levels of the students. They also confirmed that the tests have been written by specialized experienced teams.

#تنويه_هــام pic.twitter.com/9nGJeKDsKd

— وزارة التربية والتعليم والتعليم العالي (@Qatar_Edu) May 29, 2022

To further address the matter, they tweeted on the morning of May 30, 2022, urging students to focus on the upcoming exams and not be distracted by that which has passed.

#اختبار_نهاية_الفصل_الدراسي_الثاني pic.twitter.com/BMf41kgHop

— وزارة التربية والتعليم والتعليم العالي (@Qatar_Edu) May 30, 2022

Source: Al Sharq
Cover Image Credit: Shutterstock

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Fareeha Imtiaz

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