Graduation exams, in which thousands of young people participate every year, are not only a competition of knowledge, but also an indicator of certain gaps in the education system. Annual reports and analysis of exam results by the State Examination Center (SEC) show that the majority of applicants face difficulties in some subjects and specific topics.
So what are the weakest points of students?
Shakir Huseyn, Deputy for Educational Affairs of Hədəf courses, told AzEdu.az on the topic that if we initially pay attention to Mathematics, we will see that the main problem in the exam is not so much fundamental knowledge, but the logical application of that knowledge:
"According to statistics, the lowest indicators are recorded in the geometry section. Especially in the topics of spatial figures and the area of figures, the visualization ability is low. Also, questions that require converting text into a mathematical model are another problem that students experience difficulties with.
Here, both reading comprehension and equation building skills are required at the same time. Along with this, working with graphs and practical application of formulas are among the areas where applicants experience difficulties.
Finally, I would like to note that students mainly learn mathematics by rote. Students often remember formulas, but they do not fully master when and how to apply them. This creates confusion among students when faced with new types of questions."
The results of the graduation exams held in the current academic year show that the biggest "surprise" of this year's exam was the grammar questions compiled for the Azerbaijani language subject:
"The fact that the questions were more complex than expected caused students to spend a large part of their time on this subject. This directly led to a reduction in the time allocated to other subjects (Mathematics and Foreign Language) and serious setbacks in the overall exam results. When comparing with the statistics of previous years, it becomes clear that the main difficulty in the language of instruction is still related to text tests. The points where applicants make the most mistakes are: drawing a logical conclusion from the given text, finding the author's "subtext" message (sub-meaning), determining the meaning of the word according to the context, etc.
Especially in journalistic texts, the cause-and-effect relationships between events are often misinterpreted. Two fundamental reasons can be taken as the root of this failure: Firstly, the existing preparation system encourages students to memorize template rules rather than analyze. Secondly, students' distance from fiction limits their vocabulary and weakens their ability to quickly comprehend text.
Finally, for the foreign language exam, I can say that although students show high results in traditional grammar questions, the picture changes dramatically in the applied language skills section. Statistics show that the majority of applicants have difficulty following a fast speaking pace, and at the same time listening and taking notes."
However, the problem is not only related to the level of preparation of students
"In some cases, technical malfunctions in the sound amplifiers in the exam halls and the inability to hear the sound clearly are among the factors that directly negatively affect the results. Considering that changes are expected in the exam structure from the next academic year. According to the new format: Open questions on listening and reading texts will be completely replaced by closed (test) or True/False type tasks. In this section, where two texts will be presented, the main challenge will not be the difficulty of the questions, but the correct allocation of time.
Although these changes are expected to lighten the burden on students to some extent, the situation with writing skills is different. The weakest point of applicants is still their inability to express their thoughts in a structured, grammatically and lexically correct way. According to the new rules, the requirement for students to write an essay of at least 100 words may lead to new and more serious problems for applicants with weak writing skills."
