Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., July 25, 2008 Tamuz 22, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:48 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Education Min. agrees to talks - as English exam checkers flex muscles By Cnaan Liphshiz Tags: Education Hours into the strike of the English final exam evaluators, the Education Ministry on Wednesday agreed to hear complaints and reexamine the situation. But as ungraded exams pile up, checkers demand tangible concessions. "We're disillusioned," one striker told Anglo File this week. "The polite Anglo approach won't do," the teacher said. "After three years of working under impossible and degrading conditions in which we tried to negotiate with the system, we realized we need to put our foot down," said Sandra Yosef-Hassidim, a striking English Bagrut evaluator said. The leaders of the strike explain that three years ago the Bagrut final exam in English underwent a reform which tripled its volume. The 300-odd evaluators were expected to maintain the same quota. Advertisement This means that evaluators - many of whom immigrated to Israel from English-speaking countries - are now instructed to grade up to 19 tests per hour, or 912 a week. The quota requires evaluators to grade one test every three to five minutes, eight hours a day - a mission impossible, according to the Dutch-born Yosef-Hassidim. She added that detecting possible cheating on an exam can take up to an hour, "and then how are you supposed to fill your quota?" Evaluators in other languages such as French and Arabic are required to grade four tests per hour, according to the U.K.-born strike coordinator, who requested her name be withheld from this article. "This caused dozens of evaluators to leave the field this year," she added. The issue was first raised soon after the Bagrut reform tripled the work. In January, according to the coordinator, the evaluators sent the ministry a petition demanding change. "In May we sent a compromise proposal, but the earlier this month the ministry rejected it, leaving us no choice but to strike," she added. Next week, the ministry will receive thousands of new Bagrut tests. "If we start working now, I don't see how we'll finish grading before Hannukah. The students will have already enlisted, without knowing their Bagrut grades to decide whether they want to retake the test," another evaluator, Orna Aharon, told Anglo File. In an apparent attempt to end the strike and reduce backlog, the ministry decided on a more flexible approach. "The ministry is attentive and aware of the evaluators' complaints," a spokesperson for the ministry, Michal Tzadoky, said. "We are even interested in reexamining the issue. The ministry regrets to hear that evaluators are not willing to stop the strike in spite of the ministry's promises to address their grievances." Tzadoky added that the ministry's professional representatives will continue to assess the situation "and offer solutions for all parties involved in talks." Tzadoki would confirm "there was talk of setting up a special committee to review the subject," but added that "nothing has been decided yet." Aharon says her colleagues were wary of calling off the strike before a detailed deal was achieved. "This is a lesson we learned in the general strike earlier this year," she explained. She went on to say that the work rate required of her following the reform was unhealthy and crippling. "We are all prepared to work hard, but not to the point where we have to wake up at 5 A.M. and work until 11 P.M. nonstop," she said. No time for the bathroom "I could hardly afford the time to go to the bathroom," said Sandra Yosef-Hassidim. "I have headaches and I can't sleep at night. I see the students' phrases from the tests returning in my sleep." Both Yosef-Hassidim and the strike coordinator say that cultural background played a big part in the decision to keep working under such conditions for three years. "Many of us come from places with different work ethics and norms," Hassidim said. "The strike should have happened sooner, but it took us a long time to understand this situation wasn't going to be solved and that we had to strike. Also, it's a painful thing for a dedicated teacher to say that he or she can't do the job." Hassidim says that the ministry's "best grade counts" reform, which allows pupils to retake the English Bagrut, also considerably increased the work volume. "The ministry is interested in this because it serves to improve students' final grades. It's a political thing," she says. The strike coordinator says the graders regret having to hurt their students by striking, but adds that students "suffered from our impossible workload." She added: "Following the Bagrut reform, teachers couldn't keep up with the pressure and (examiner) mistakes became much more common." The highest level English final exam, the five point test, is checked twice, first by a standard evaluator and then by a senior colleague. The two lower level exams, the four and the three point tests, are graded only once. Recalling her own technical errors in scoring - which she says were caused by overwork - Yosef-Hassisidm says she is certain that "there are high school graduates today with final grades which are considerably lower than what they should have been." Despite the heavy workload, the ministry's officials are reportedly harsh on evaluators who make mistakes. "You do not want to be caught making a mistake, that's all I'm willing to say," declares Aharon. Another evaluator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that "evaluators who were caught making mistakes were promptly fired." Another result of the speedy pace is that cheaters were allowed to slip through. "For some reason, cheating is especially high in the English Bagrut," the coordinator says. "Even if we pick up on cheaters, we have no time to recheck, file forms and report it." Bookmark to del.icio.us   The bigger apple Study shows Tel Aviv is more expensive to live in than New York. When bedbugs bite After 40 years' absence, Israel braces for return of the bedbug.

Read & React Sen. Joe Lieberman praises pastor who said Holocaust was God's work Responses: 126 Obama tells Haaretz: Two states for two peoples Responses: 155 Ashkenazi in U.S.: All options are on the table regarding Iran Responses: 86 Editorial: We need a U.S. leader unfettered by the Israel lobby Responses: 78 Israel Harel: Shalit must be made a burden for Hamas, rather than an asset Responses: 31 More Headlines 00:21 Obama to PM: Talks with Iran necessary to legitimize action 01:39 Shin Bet head Diskin: Cease-fire with Hamas unlikely to hold 00:20 AG: Olmert obstructing graft probes against him 22:27 Settler holds knife to IDF soldier's throat in West Bank riot 00:47 Tali Fahima: Zakariya Zubeidi is Israeli security service's whore 22:51 Cancer research center warns: Stay away from cell phones 02:31 When it comes to psychometric exam, Haredi Jews do it better 02:05 After two weeks' closure, IDF allows Nablus mall to reopen 01:13 Boy whose mother is suspected of selling him removed from U.K. family 23:45 Arab bloc rescinds proposal to have UN vote against Israeli settlements 22:51 Egyptian Facebook activists jailed for threatening national security 23:59 VIDEO / Another delay in Katsav sex crimes indictment as case transferred 15:36 Jewish World/Unwilling flag wavers? 19:10 Pop singer Aviv Gefen pens new ballad calling to free Shalit Previous Editions Select Day 24 jul 23 jul 22 jul 21 jul 20 jul 18 jul 17 jul 16 jul 15 jul 14 jul 13 jul 11 jul

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Dan Hotels Israel Live the Legend & experience an Unforgettable Summer Vacation Yossi Avrahami Presents: New Luxurious Projects in North Tel Aviv & Eilat Holyland Park Jerusalem Apartment Tower World Class Luxury Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved