As of: 01/13/2022 11:59 a.m.
For many students, learning in the pandemic is a real challenge. Does that mean the degrees are worth less? The ministers of education make it clear again: Those affected should not suffer any disadvantages.
Schoolchildren shouldn’t have to worry about their degrees in this Corona school year either. The education ministers stated in a joint resolution that the degrees and final exams in 2022 will be equivalent to those of earlier and later years and will be mutually recognized. “This creates planning security for everyone who will take exams this year and for the teachers who prepare for the exams,” said the President of the Conference of Ministers of Education, Karin Prien.
This year, too, the federal states have a number of possibilities to support schoolchildren without lowering the level of aspiration, declared the state ministers of education. This included postponing exam dates and reducing the number of class tests and exams in order to gain more study time. A higher number of examination questions could also be made available for selection and the processing time extended.
Oral exam via video conference if necessary
Even if the further pandemic is difficult to predict, the federal states should, if possible, ensure that schoolchildren can graduate. Exams could take place in closed schools, provided there are no conflicting state regulations. Oral examinations could in exceptional cases take place as a video conference under applicable legal provisions if the infection control does not allow an examination in presence. However, this must be covered by the respective state regulations.
It can be assumed that the Abitur exams as well as the final exams of the vocational schools will take place “as planned”, taking into account the hygiene regulations, according to the ministers of education.
The written Abitur exams are already under way in Rhineland-Palatinate. In the two previous years, the ministers of education had already affirmed in resolutions that the pupils of the final year should not suffer any disadvantages due to the pandemic.