Private educational institutions will earn 27 million kuna from the state graduation exam

Controversies arising from the state graduation exam, a test that everyone wishing to enroll in college must pass starting in 2010, will be well monetized by numerous private educational institutions and tutoring centers. It is estimated, writes Jutarnji list, that private entities preparing students for the state graduation exam will generate around 27 million kuna in the coming months. Educational authorities remain silent on the matter.

– This is unscrupulous selling of smoke for big money. Fear of the state graduation exam is being sown among students, and then money is made off that fear, šwhich is immoral in times of crisis. It is like buying indulgences – says Dalibor Joler, principal of the I. Zagreb Gymnasium. According to various studies, this school is among the top 10 in the country.

– For the state graduation exam, students can best be prepared by their professors. We have clearly told the children this. However, despite this, some of my students have enrolled in preparations. When I asked them why they did it, they told me they wanted to ease their conscience – explained Joler. All schools offering tutoring for the state graduation exam had until yesterday been preparing students for entrance exams. They adapted to the new situation overnight.

The instructors are mostly high school and university professors, and the prices of courses range from 350 to 5,000 kuna (depending on the package chosen by the student). Some go so far as to claim that prior knowledge is “unnecessary” for enrolling in their course.

How good a business this is is also shown by the fact that several new schools preparing students for the state graduation exam have opened in Zagreb in recent days. Tensions are high. Distrust in public education is growing. Parents are confused. The graduation exam should be the final test of schooling. If 12 years of schooling can be compensated for by a course of a few weeks, why are our children even going to school, many are asking.

– Each of us wants the best for our child. I myself have paid for such tutoring even though I do not know if it is useful or just a waste of money. Honestly, I was afraid that my child would have a harder time enrolling in the desired college if I did not enroll them in the course and pay 3,500 kuna – said the father of a graduating student. His class teacher even openly invited parents to enroll their children in preparations because otherwise their chances would be much lower. Some public schools, as we learn, have even organized presentations for students with the message: if you do not enroll in the preparations that you must pay for, you will not pass the graduation exam.

Schools as businesses
Politicians are also getting involved in the campaign. Dubrovnik Mayor Andro Vlahušić publicly called on parents of graduating students about ten days ago to enroll their children in preparations for the state graduation exam organized by a private school. He also promised that the City would finance one-third of the costs for each participant.

– There is no need for that – claims Vlahušić’s former party colleague Želimir Janjić, state secretary in the Ministry of Education. He warns that the programs for preparing for the state graduation exam offered by private entities do not have verification from the Ministry of Education.

– These schools are mostly established as commercial companies. It is the same as if someone were dealing with tarot and offering their services. Those who like it, let them. However, I advise parents not to spend money, as their children do not need it – says Janjić.

From the forest, they do not see the trees
Damir Brozović, owner of one of the largest tutoring schools, Trinom, claims otherwise.

– From experience, I can say that, indeed, there are schools whose students do not need any preparations, but most do, especially vocational students who have nothing to do on the graduation exam without preparations because their program differs from the gymnasium’s – says Brozović. He also claims that gymnasium students need preparations because they often “do not see the trees for the forest of material”.

He particularly assesses the teaching of mathematics as problematic, which is evident from the results of the mock graduation exam. The graduation exam includes tests in Croatian language, mathematics, a foreign language, and a subject of choice depending on the college.

– It is pointless to ask whether children need additional preparations for the graduation exam or not. Some need it, and some do not. The real question is whether our education system is working and whether our children are doing well – said Katja Petric-Maretić, director of the Zagreb Tutoring Center. (www.jutarnji.hr)