Matura
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Matura (Matur, Maturità, Maturität) is the word commonly used in Austria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine for the final exams young adults (aged 18 or 19) take at the end of their secondary education. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia it is officially called maturita, in Italy maturità, in Austria Reifeprüfung ("examination of maturity"), but matura is used in slang in these four countries. In Hungary, the same system is used, but it is called érettségi (vizsga) ("examination of maturity"), the equivalent of matura and in Israel it is called bagrut. In South Africa, matura is taken after 12 years of schooling and is referred to as the Senior Certificate or Matric examination. Matura also occurs among the minority populations in other countries as an additional besides high school - a Canadian of Ukrainian descent, for example, can finish their matura after having achieved the corresponding credits.
This happens usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling. Each candidate who passes their final exams receives a document that contains their grades and which formally enables them to go to a university. In countries such as Austria, this document alone allows entry to any university, as the grades themselves are irrelevant; whereas in other countries there can be numerus clausus, meaning that certain standards need to be met in the Matura grades before acceptance at a university.
The equivalent British term (except Scotland) is "A-levels", the Scottish is "Higher", the Irish is "Leaving Certificate", the German is "Abitur", or simply "Abi", the French is "le baccalauréat", or simply "le bac" and the Romanian is "bacalaureat". In Swiss French, it is called La Maturité or, informally, "La Matu'".
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[edit] Matura in Austria
The official term for Matura in Austria is Reifeprüfung. The document received after the successful completion of the exams is called Reifeprüfungszeugnis.
In the Gymnasium, which, as opposed to vocational schools, focuses on general education, the Matura consists of 3-4 written exams (referred to as Klausurarbeiten, 4-5 hours each) to be taken on consecutive mornings (usually in May) and 3-4 oral exams to be taken on the same half-day one month later (usually in June). All examinations are held at the school which the candidate last attended. Candidates have the option to write a scholarly paper (called Fachbereichsarbeit) to be submitted at the beginning of the February preceding the final exams, which, if it is accepted, reduces the number of exams by one (3 written, 3 oral). However, the Fachbereichsarbeit must be presented orally on the day the oral exams take place.
The grading system is the same as the one universally used in Austrian schools: 1 (sehr gut) is excellent; 2 (gut) is good; 3 (befriedigend) is average; 4 (genügend) means that you have just passed; 5 (nicht genügend) means that you have failed. In addition, a candidate's Maturazeugnis contains a formalized overall assessment: mit ausgezeichnetem Erfolg bestanden (passed with honours, the mean of the candidate's grades being ≤ 1,5), mit gutem Erfolg bestanden (not quite as good; grades ranging from 1 to 3 allowed, the mean being ≤ 2); bestanden (a simple pass); and nicht bestanden (fail). Candidates who have failed may take their final exams again in September/October or February/March of the following school year.
Subjects for the written finals to be taken in any case depend on the type of Gymnasium. German and Mathematics (both compulsory) and a foreign language (usually English, French, Italian, Latin or ancient Greek). Gymnasium with a focus on science may require students to take written finals in Biology, Physics or Chemistry.
The most striking aspect of the Austrian Matura is that it is a decentralized affair. There are no external examiners: Candidates are set tasks both for their written and oral finals by their own (former) teachers. Formally, however, there is an examination board consisting of a candidate's teachers/examiners, the headmaster/headmistress and a Vorsitzende(r) (head), usually a high-ranking school official or the head of another school. All oral exams are public, but usually only classmates, friends, family of the candidates or younger students listen in.
Of course it is possible for Austrians of all age groups to take the Matura. Adults from their twenties on are usually tutored at private institutions of adult education before taking their final tests, held separately before a regional examination board.
[edit] Matura in Poland
In Poland, matura is not obligatory, however it is required for those wishing to pursue higher education. It consists of two parts: written and oral.
There are three written compulsory subjects: Polish language, foreign language and one subject chosen from biology, chemistry, physics with astronomy, geography, history, history of music, history of art, mathematics, society studies, and dance studies. Compulsory subjects can be taken at a basic or extended level. Pupils can also choose up to three additional subjects that they want to sit at extended level. There are few more subjects (including Kashubian language, Ancient cultural studies and Information Technology) that can be only chosen as additional. Pupil may choose to take an additional part of some exams in a foreign language.
The oral part consists of Polish and foreign language interviews.
The results are measured in percents. 30% is required to pass the exam. To pass whole matura, a student has to pass all compulsory exams (3) and interviews (2) (but the Ministry of Education has set up the rule that even if one of these exams is failed, matura is passed anyway - this regulation is called amnestia or amnesty and is famous of the fact, that it was applied after results of matura were shown and caused many fails become passes, but too late to higher school recruitment). Points from both levels are treated separately. If pupil takes an exam on the basic level, he or she gets 0 points from extended level. The points from basic level, if a pupil takes an extended level, are calculated as following:
Note: These informations may change because of rapid changes done by Ministry of Education.
[edit] Matura in Slovenia
In Slovenia, the matura is an obligatory exam one must pass after finishing gimnazija (upper secondary school) to have one's education formally recognised and to become eligible to enrol in colleges and universities. It should not be confused with the poklicna matura (vocational leaving exam), which is the final examination at vocational schools and does not lead to university studies. Since there is no entrance examination at the vast majority of Slovenian universities programmes (notable exceptions are only art and music programmes, architecture studies, and sports studies), the score on this exam is the sole criterion for admission.
There has been a heated debate lately whether this leaving exam should once again be completely abolished. As of January 2007, the position of the Ministry of Education remains that the "matura" will still be the only way of completing secondary education. The decision on whether universities should introduce entrance examinations and reduce the importance of the leaving exam to a mere pass/fail has not been made yet.
The nation-wide leaving exam was reintroduced in Slovenia in 1994, after all upper secondary schools had been suspended in 1980s and reopened in 1991. The exam is conducted in two terms, the first one being in spring (May/June) and the second one in autumn (September). Due to the university admittance procedure, of which the first call concludes in July, applicants passing the exam in September have usually a very limited choice of university programmes for that year.
Th eleaving exam is a centralised affair, conducted by the National Examination Centre, which is in charge of selecting tasks, appointing national examiners, grading the sheets, and sending the scores to all Slovenian universities the applicants have applied for.
It consists of three compulsory and two elective subjects. One must take Slovenian (Italian or Hungarian for members of minorities), Mathematics and one foreign language (usually English, although French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Italian are provided, as well). The elective subjects can be chosen among all the other subjects, one has encountered during his schooling (Physics, Chemistry, Geography, History or History of Art, Philosophy or Sociology or Psychology, Music or Graphic Arts, Economics, Informatics, Biotechnology, Electrotechnics). It is possible to choose the second foreign language as one of the elective subjects.
Grading is somewhat complicated, as there exist three different criteria for different sets of subjects. Slovenian is unique and is graded on scale of 1 to 8. It is possible to take mathematics and all foreign languages on a higher or basic level. Basic marks range from 1 to 5, whereas marks for the higher level are 1, 2, 4 (3+1), 6 (4+2) and 8 (5+3). The examinee may only take two subjects on the higher level (two foreign languages, or mathematics and one foreign language). All other subjects are graded from 1 to 5. The only negative score is 1; all other scores are positive. Thus, it is possible to gain from 10 to 34 points. Students who have achieved 30 or more points are awarded leaving exam diplomas cum laude and are usually congratulated by the president of Slovenia at a festive reception in September.
Structure of particular exams:
- Mother tongue - Slovenian (Hungarian or Italian for members of minorities respectively)
- Sheet 1: Students write an essay (1000 words) on the two pieces of literaute (in 2007: Pimlico by Milan Dekleva, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera). The national committee for Slovenian (Državna predmetna komisija za splošno maturo za slovenščino) publishes the titles of the two works the examinees are expected to know one year ahead. This sheet represents 50% of the final score.
- Sheet 2: Students are given an unknown text from a newspaper, magazine etc., followed by some 30 tasks, testing their ability to read, interpret, and understand the text. Also, students' knowledge of Slovenian grammar, word-formation and spelling is tested. The last task is to form a certain type of text, being an invitation, a letter of complaint, biography etc. This sheet represents 30 % of the final mark.
- Oral exam: A candidate is given three questions. The first two are related to the world literature, whereas the third asks about the historical development of literary Slovenian from its beginnings in the year 1551 to the present. It is possible to gain 20%.
The final score is expressed in points from 1 (failure) to 8 (the highest standard of knowledge).
- Mathematics
It is possible to take this subject on a higher or basic level.
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- Sheet 1: Students are given approximately ten tasks, evaluating their knowledge of different fields in mathematics. This sheet accounts for 53.3% (on a higher level) or 80% (on a basic level).
- Sheet 2 (only on a higher level): Students are given three more difficult tasks. This sheet is worth 26.7%.
- Oral exam: An examinee is given three questions, testing their ability to prove certain theorems or explain some mathematical axioms and definitions.
The final score is expressed in points from 1 (failure) to 5 (the highest mark on a basic level) or 8 (the highest mark on a higher level).
- Foreign languages
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Geography
- History
- Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Vienna's Schottengymnasium with lots of Matura 2004 pics
- [1] Matura in Poland
