The surprise of the Cantabrian students when they read the statements of the university entrance exams (ABAU), which was held on Monday, was probably capitalized after seeing that they did not know the answers to the first questions because they did not enter the syllabus
The organizational nonsense was not only limited to the first exam, but also to several others, and has led to the protest of students and teachers, to the point of forcing the organizing commission – formed by the University of Cantabria and the Ministry of Education – to meet today as an emergency.
The tests were held from Monday to Wednesday this week in 15 centers, with nearly 3,000 students. The mistakes occurred in the Spanish language, Latin, Spanish history, chemistry and fundamentals of art.
In history there was an imbalance between the options to choose from, so that there were more questions in one block than in another. In Spanish, a poem by Antonio Machado was included that was not included in the Campos de Castilla selection. In some venues, the correct poem was projected after ten minutes, but in others there were no screens and the printed text did not arrive until 40 minutes later.
Also, the texts chosen for the literature questions were not significant with respect to their corresponding works.
In chemistry, it was the same students who warned of an error and had to wait to see if it was removed. In applied mathematics, a question appeared in the mathematics of the mode of high school science…
On Tuesday, the university issued a statement admitting that on the first day “two anomalies” had been detected in the formulation of two questions, corresponding to the tests of the subjects of history of Spain and Spanish language and literature, and that the incidences they had been corrected “with compensatory measures, such as increasing the time to take the test or removing a question for the overall calculation”. Also, the guideline to evaluate the exam on eight points instead of ten is marked, and the question with the lowest score would be eliminated.
Those affected are waiting for what will be decided at today’s meeting. The teaching staff board regrets the lack of coordination between the university, which designs the assessments, and high school teachers.
The protests have not been limited to mistakes. The content of the journalistic text of the Spanish test, an article published in January by La Razón on gender violence, has also raised controversy for its position against the institutional strategy, in which it reviewed the “demonization of masculinity”.
