Due to the pandemic, the date for the state exam was canceled. Teaching students are now demanding that the Ministry of Education change the examination conditions.
Photo: Martin Bielecki
Martin Bielecki from Bad Brückenau (district of Bad Kissingen) is ready for the exam. “We have learned that we can do the material,” says the 36-year-old, who studies teaching in Würzburg. “We have all been preparing for this for over six months.” On March 19, many teaching students in Bavaria should have passed their first state examination. A day earlier, the Ministry of Culture announced in a message that the exams will be postponed indefinitely. The students then stayed there for six weeks without further information. At the end of April, the ministry announced that the exams will continue on May 18 without further ado. The students see their equal opportunities threatened and demand fair exam conditions – in an open letter they now contact the Ministry of Education.
Uncertainty is a psychological burden
Due to the exceptional situation in the past few weeks, those affected are demanding modified conditions for the first state examination. In an open letter, which now has more than 530 signatures, the students suggest several possible solutions. Among other things, they bring an additional free attempt into play. Another possibility that the students are considering: The result of the exam should be calculated as the average grade from exams already taken. In addition, goodwill in the correction of grades would be an option for prospective teachers, in the form of a grade bonus.
Already at the end of April, affected trainee teachers from all over Bavaria came together and founded a Facebook group. The group called “First State Exam Spring 2020” now has around 1400 members. Inquiries and proposed solutions on the part of the students were ignored and not answered by the ministry and a new exam date was not announced for weeks, according to a message from the Facebook group. The uncertainty would have felt a lot of psychological stress. “It cannot and should not be that in the current exceptional situation we are treated as if there were no pandemic,” said the group members.
“You no longer achieve top performance, but have passed the zenith.”
Martin Bielecki from Bad Brückenau–
The fact that the ministry announced the new date without taking the exceptional situation into account leads to resentment among the students. They criticize the lack of communication and transparency. “Suddenly you get the information that the competition should take place in two weeks,” the group said. “Will you be running your best time that day? Certainly not. Will you finish? Maybe.”
Students criticize the lack of communication
Bielecki would also have passed his state exam in March. In autumn he was supposed to start his legal clerkship to teach mathematics and physics at a Bavarian high school. Due to the short-term cancellation, the 36-year-old could only take one of his exams. The forced break he had to take in the past six weeks has cost him a lot of energy. Because if you don’t know what to do next, it’s difficult to focus, he explains. “You no longer achieve top performance, but have passed the zenith.”
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Johanna Heim
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Threat and threat
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