The national external assessment at the end of the fourth grade may undergo serious changes so that it does not become an additional source of stress for students and the school system. This became clear from the words of the Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Georgi Valchev, during parliamentary control, in response to a question from Member of Parliament Petar Petrov from "Vazrazhdane".
"We will conduct an analysis of the national external assessment at the end of the fourth grade, of the forms it takes, and it is possible that we will propose the necessary changes so that it does not have a stressful effect on the entire system and the students," pointed out Prof. Valchev. According to him, the goal is to preserve the purpose of the assessment without excessively burdening the children and their families.
MP Petar Petrov recalled that "for years, primary school teachers, thousands of specialists, as well as some trade union organizations have been appealing and proposing that the national external assessment at the end of the fourth grade be canceled." According to him, the "little matura" in this form is disproportionate to the age and maturity of the children.
The minister noted that the external assessment in the fourth grade is also linked to admissions into mathematics high schools from the fifth grade, but nonetheless, a comprehensive review of the model will be carried out. "The national external assessment has a connection with the application process for mathematics high schools starting from the fifth grade, but we will conduct a comprehensive review and make concrete decisions," said Prof. Valchev, emphasizing that steps have already been taken to change the format.
According to him, the Ministry of Education and Science is preparing an analysis of the way the assessment is conducted so that it becomes more effective and has less of a negative impact on students and their families. "Steps have been taken at the MES to change it and make it more functional and less impactful on students and their families," he added.
The Minister of Education recalled that the organization of the national external assessment is currently regulated in detail. "At the moment, however, the organization is as follows: the provision of Article 58 of Ordinance No. 11 regulates in detail the way in which examination materials for the national external assessments are prepared and they are directly related to the respective curricula. The Minister of Education and Science, by order, assigns the activities for the organization and preparation of the external assessment in the fourth grade to the Institute for Education," explained Prof. Valchev.
He clarified that the Institute for Education develops a specification for each exam, in which the type of tasks and their distribution by cognitive levels are planned. This ensures that the exam measures various knowledge, skills, and competencies, rather than just the mechanical reproduction of information.
When compiling the tasks for the national external assessment at the end of the fourth grade, teams of teachers, university professors, and experts in the methodology of teaching Bulgarian language and literature and mathematics are formed. They work according to a strictly defined procedure to ensure quality and objectivity.
"The process of compiling the test format goes through the following stages: selection of specialists to compile test tasks, expert evaluation of each test task by two evaluators, selection of tasks for the national external assessment, testing of tasks, analysis of the tested tasks, preparation of tests by an expert commission at the MES, and expert evaluation of the examination test by two evaluators with scientific expertise," further explained Minister Valchev.
He emphasized that this detailed process is precisely what guarantees the validity and reliability of the exams, but nevertheless, the revision of individual stages will not be excluded if the analysis shows that "lightening" the format is necessary for the sake of less stress for the children and greater benefit for the system.