Turkish education minister says no additional tests in new system

ANKARA - Anadolu News Agency

We are only making the tests that are already happening better and more secure, Education Minister Nabi Avcı says. AA Photo

Education Minister Nabi Avcı has assured the public that no new tests will be added to the new middle school entrance examinations, stressing that the agreed changes are aimed at forming a better arrangement.

“Some reports say there will be 12, even 36 new tests, but these statements are from those who know nothing of the subject at hand. We are only making the tests that are already happening better and more secure,” Avcı said at a recent press conference on the planned new system.

He added that multiple choice tests would be replaced by classic written examinations, and that the overall system would help children incorporate arts and sports activities in their school years by eliminating the short-term education principle.

“We are trying to put in a system that allows for sports and arts to be involved with the replacements,” Avıc said, adding that the new system would also allow children to avoid the stress of a one-time examination.

“We are not introducing any more tests. What we are doing is taking one of the tests of the year and doing it in a safer, more controlled way. Our children will take the test in their own classrooms. The questions will come from the curriculum of the school, and wrong answers will not cost them the right ones,” he said.