The succession of errors in the EBAU de Cantabria exams that has unleashed a wave of criticism among the students already has consequences: the person in charge will leave office when the process is finished and there will be a restructuring of the team for next year. This has been decided by the EBAU Mixed Commission, formed by the University of Cantabria (UC) and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, so that Jaime Bonaechea, general coordinator of the EBAU, has made his position available to the University de Cantabria (UC), an academic institution that has asked him to continue until the entire process, that is, until after the extraordinary call exams are held in July.
In addition to changing the general coordinator, it will be decided whether to replace another person in charge, since there is also a coordinator for each subject. “We will analyze everything”, has transferred the vice-rector for Students and Employment of the UC, Marta García Lastra, who has appeared before the media this Friday accompanied by the general director of Educational Inspection of the Government of Cantabria, Mercedes García, coinciding with the celebration of the meeting of the EBAU Mixed Commission, which began at 9:00 am in the ‘Tres Torres’ Building on the Campus de las Llamas.
The vice-rector began her speech by apologizing -as the rector, Ángel Pazos, already did this Thursday during his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the mathematician Michael Shub as Doctor Honoris Causa of the UC- for the errors that he has attributed to the tests of three subjects: History of Spain, Latin and Spanish Language and Literature. However, he has highlighted that in part the failures were resolved “during the development of the exam”, or the same day they were held, after meeting in the afternoon the coordinators of the UC and Secondary School and the members.
“Message of Tranquility”
Thus, the vice-chancellor has transmitted a message “of calm and tranquility”, assuring that “the students will not suffer any harm from what has happened” and clarifying that the EBAU is “a process that is still open”, so that the provisional grades will be released on June 16, as planned, and the claims period will open from the 19th to the 21st. However, the UC is not afraid of possible requests for revision or repetition of exams because, as García Lastra has pointed out , the measures that have been taken “without a doubt will avoid any harm to the student body.”
Those measures that have been adopted to alleviate the errors in the tests have consisted of extending the times to take the exams or eliminating questions, in addition to setting some guidelines when it comes to correcting that would have already been transferred to those in charge of this task. “The criteria are set and are set in the afternoon or once the exams are over,” the vice-chancellor clarified.
Thus, as both she and the Director General of Educational Inspection have pointed out, solutions have already been given to errors in Latin and History and all that remains is for the Mixed Commission to determine what to do in the case of Language. In this matter, it was decided on the fly to extend the time to take the exam, but there was “some group of students where this corrective measure was not applied well”, so action must be taken so that they are not harmed.
Another different case was that of History of Spain -where the error consisted in the inclusion of three questions from a first block and only one from the second, instead of two and two, as should be done for students to choose one of them- , around which those responsible met the same afternoon that the exam was carried out, Monday, and decided to score on eight points instead of ten, eliminating the question with the lowest score.
Asked if the cause of these failures is a coordination problem with the teachers of the institutes, García Lastra has denied it, pointing out that they are “specific situations”, since “normally there are coordination meetings” between the different parties. However, she has indicated that the Commission formed by UC and the Ministry of Education will address how to avoid this type of error in future EBAU. Thus, from the Ministry, the general director of Educational Inspection has added that “there will be proposals for improvement” both on her part and on that of the university.
“We have been in permanent contact since the first issues arose”, assured Mercedes García, who stressed that Education “has transmitted the concern to the vice-chancellor from the outset”. And although she has recognized the “incidents”, she has tried to downplay their importance, pointing out that they focus on the three indicated subjects and that solutions have already been adopted, leaving only the case of Language and Literature to be analyzed.
In addition, García -who, to questions from the press, has indicated that the Ministry would not have contacted Education to inquire about what happened- has advanced that work will continue once the extraordinary call of the EBAU ends to improve coordination in the coming years and thus “give peace of mind and calm to the entire educational community”.
The person in charge of the UC has not ruled on the article in the newspaper La Razón included in the Language test in which the policies to combat gender violence are questioned, equating them with “demonizing the masculine”.
www.eldiario.es