High school students rejoice that exams are over… and await results

The General and Specialized Secondary School Certificate examinations for the end of the second semester of the 2023/2024 academic year, which began on June 3, ended yesterday.
The students of Arts and Humanities, Science, Parallel and Technical subjects appeared for the examination with the meticulous preparation of the Ministry of Education which provided the right atmosphere to conduct the examination with ease and achieve the expected results, while as per the examination schedule, the rectification process started at 4 pm on the day of the examination.
Yesterday, during Al-Arab’s on-site monitoring of the exam progress at the Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Mana Boys’ Secondary School, some students of science, arts and humanities confirmed that they had completed their high school exams after 10 days of hard study and revision, during which they encountered some difficulties that affected their results in the final exams, while other exams went smoothly.
The students’ opinions on the difficulty of the Higher Secondary Examinations also varied, overall, some students expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the examinations and their performance throughout the examination period, while others expressed frustration as they faced difficulties in some examinations, among which they mentioned Physics, Mathematics in the Science stream and English, Geography in the Literature stream.

Experimental test
Abdullah Saeed, a Year 12 student of Literature, said that although he had prepared well for the geography exam in terms of studying and revision, the way the questions were asked did not help the students to answer the questions well. We are very shocked that many students feel frustrated and have no confidence in getting good grades because the difficult questions included in the exam were not included in the curriculum. He hopes that the Ministry of Education will take into account the feelings of students and their ambition to get grades that will qualify them to complete the path of university education by considering them in the correction process.
His views in this regard were echoed by his classmate Abdul Rahman Salem, a Year XII literature student, who stressed that the geography test contained some difficult, if not insurmountable, questions that led to frustration for many students in the final days. He pointed out that the exam challenged the students’ abilities, noting the difficulty and ambiguity of some questions, noting that the very nature of literature subjects, especially geography, depended on memorization, but some questions were difficult and beyond the scope of the curriculum, which necessitated the Ministry of Education to be more lenient in correcting them, taking into account the difficulty of the exam.
Student Hamad Al-Marri, for his part, pointed out that there were some sections in the high school exams that were somewhat difficult, especially the last day of the exam, and he pointed out the importance of the lab tests because the standards of the questions were similar to the lab tests, which made the exams easier for students who reviewed and studied regularly and did not put it off until the last day.

Postponement of review
While Mohammed Abdullah, a student of literature department, expressed satisfaction with the ease of the general examination, saying that the examination covered various courses in the curriculum and questions in some subjects were not without difficulty and were even complicated, while the geography examination was within the expectations of diligent students who were expected to answer all questions easily in the courses they studied during the semester.
His colleague Ali Al-Yafei puts the blame on the students themselves, who have repeatedly complained about the difficulty of some exams each year, suggesting that it is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Education or the schools, but the students themselves who prepare for the exams and postpone revision and study until a week before the exams, with evidence showing that many students achieve full marks or close to them.

Serious and hardworking
Ali Saeed, from the Grade XII Science track, praised the level of the second semester exams, which were characterized by clarity and not exaggeration in setting complex questions. Pointing out the ease of the computer-based exams and the fact that it contained many expected questions in the curriculum, he stressed the importance of commitment, seriousness, diligence, and making an intensive timetable to review all subjects, as well as taking advantage of the fact that the review courses started in the middle of last month, that is, in plenty of time before the exams.
Mahmoud Al-Shammari, a student, agreed with him, stressing the ease of computer tests and pointing out the importance of experimental tests that simulate the end-of-second semester tests, as they play an important role in training students to understand the nature of tests, which are considered one of the best ways to measure students’ levels and identify strengths and weaknesses.
He stressed that some teachers encourage students to take trial tests and study questions, which are considered to be models for examinations, and students can use the test questions to determine their performance methods and how to improve them.

Satisfying result
Abdullah Bandar, for his part, said that he attended intensive and intensive classes to ensure satisfactory results, and speaking about his aspirations for the future, he confirmed that he is considering joining the Ahmed bin Mohammed Military Academy because from now on he is interested in military qualifications, adding that there is another option, which could be to study management and economics at Qatar University. Military academies have recently become the dream of many students to pursue a military career.
Meanwhile, his classmate Mubarak Faleh pointed out that entering the military academy is due to the positive social outlook that the military rank carries, and the nature of military work is completely different from other government jobs, in addition to the constant work, the development that the young man acquires, both during his studies and through the practice of military work in the military unit he joins, through the interest of these military units or facilities that offer courses to its members, which in turn contributes to the perfection and development of military work. Not only is it a profession that allows a young man to be respected by society, because he directly serves the country, it is enough.
He added: “I study every day, I don’t put it off until tomorrow or the exam. I think the problem is not a dilemma, but to manage time and study, therefore, I am studying.” 4 to 6 hours a day, thank God, I am satisfied with the progress of high school exams, pointing out that many students have not yet decided on the destination to complete their college studies because they are waiting for the test results. Then choose among multiple study options at a time before choosing the next stage of academic destination.