After last Monday’s exam chaos, it was learned on Friday that students in the country can choose to cancel the exam if they wish.
The decision was announced in a press release from the Norwegian Directorate of Education (UTIR).
For them, the message said, it was important to find a solution that was “fair to the greatest number of students.”
The students, teachers and principal of Sonnen’s education in Oslo believe that UDIR has now achieved the opposite.
– The principal of the school, Dine Spielberg, says that the students who came to the exam with us do not have a consistent standard to fall back on.
Therefore, he believes that canceling the exam is not fair to them either.
Dream education can be lost
One of them that fits is 32-year-old Malin Utne. She put her career on hold to get a diploma and study qualifications.
– I want to study Nursing at Lovisenberg Diaconal College. I worked very hard to get the best marks I could because the academic average is very high, says NRK.
Utne needs a fifth place finish in Norway to get a high enough average to get into the line.
When I took the exam on Monday, I also had a problem logging in.
Malin Utne (32) says she put her life on hold to study at Sonance.
Photo: Terje Högnes / NRK
– I was told that I would get back the 30 minutes I lost and the five hours allotted for the exam along with it. But I didn’t get it.
Utne says she had carefully planned her exam work and was busy when she was suddenly told she only had 30 minutes to go into labour.
– I thought I had an hour left. I think the lost half hour made me drop two grades.
– They don’t have a single choice
Fewer than 2,000 students took the test in Norwegian’s main language on Sonnen’s Monday.
They used the same systems as the country’s secondary schools, and had problems logging in.
– We are still counting the number of students who have cleared the exam. Some were able to start after an hour, others after three or four hours, says the chief.
– with the hours they are entitled to?
– No. There were many who did not get their due hours. Exam time was too short for them, Spielberg replies.
Many students at Sonance take exams to gain general studies skills so they can enter higher education in the fall.
Others retake the exam to score better.
– They have paid money to go here and have practiced for the exam for a year. Now because of this there may be more people who do not enroll in higher education. Spielberg says they don’t have the same choices as high school students.
So Sonans has contacted UDIR and requested a fresh exam for all private coaching students.
Sonnens is a principal at Dine Spielberg’s company.
Photo: Terje Högnes / NRK
A new exam is possible in the fall
In an email to NRK, the director of UDIR, Morten Rosenkvist, writes that he is considering offering a new exam in this subject to the private sector in the fall.
– They can also use the normal application procedure for cancellation, the email says.
But for some students like Malin Utne, a new exam in the fall isn’t enough.
– I can’t wait until autumn for a new opportunity to take the exam. I need those grades now so I can keep them for fall registration.
What they need now is a new choice, the 32-year-old believes.
– I showed up tomorrow. We deserve a fair chance, he says.
“Music geek. Coffee lover. Devoted food scholar. Web buff. Passionate internet guru.”
