Greek essay theme ‘current’

By Evie Andreou

The theme of the essay in the Modern Greek exam that lyceum school leavers sat on Monday was very current, Education Minister Costas Kadis said on Tuesday.

The ministry found itself at the centre of a storm of reactions on Monday, the first day of the Pancyprian exams, because of the essay theme given to students was deemed too vague and difficult.
Modern Greek was sat by 8,619 teenagers islandwide. The essay part was 40 per cent of the paper’s total score.

The first part of the essay question stated:

“Inside this global framework, which is fluid and turbulent, our country remains a special case as always. It went through a lot during this period, but it seems to have learned little. However, in recent years, it is going through a historic moment: the end of the delusions.”

A qualifying sentence following the statement clarified that students were expected to explain the delusions Cypriots had experienced and how their demise had affected people’s everyday lives.

The head of the Greek Language and Literature teachers’ association, Demetris Taliadoros said that the problem was that students were not sure on which period they should focus on, since it was not specified in the text how many were the recent years mentioned.

“It was a very general statement, so those grading the papers should accept all the answers given by students,” Taliadoros said.

Kadis said that he is glad so many discussions have been made concerning the essay because it proves that it there are many ways to interpret it.

He added that the theme demanded from students to exhibit critical thinking.

The Greek teachers association said the essay was not the only issue, since the whole exam paper was very difficult and was not addressed to all students.

Student Body PSEM expressed dissatisfaction with the paper as well.

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