Blocking of Past Unified State Exam Tasks: What Threatens Students?

The Russian Ministry of Education has developed amendments to the Federal Law «On Information» that could lead to the blocking of Unified State Exam (EGE) tasks and solutions from past years. According to experts, vague wording in the document could create unequal conditions for graduates« preparation.

What does the Ministry of Education propose?

Last week, the agency«s proposals regarding the articles of the law on information became known. Initially, it was about blocking resources with ready-made homework assignments, but then it became clear that the restrictions could also affect the wording of past years» Basic State Exam (OGE) and Unified State Exam (EGE) tasks and their analysis.

According to the draft amendments, it is prohibited to disseminate «information contained in the control and measurement materials used during the state final certification for educational programs of basic general and secondary general education, as well as methods for their solution.»

The state final certification (GIA) includes the Unified State Exam for 11th graders and the Basic State Exam for 9th graders. Control and measurement materials (CMMs) are exam forms with tasks.

Graduates actively use past years« tasks for preparation, so the possible blocking of such materials has caused concern in the school community.

Experts criticize the vagueness of the wording. After public outcry, the Ministry of Education issued a clarification, confirming the ban on the dissemination of information about Unified State Exam and Basic State Exam CMMs, but without clarifying the details.

Where do Unified State Exam tasks come from online?

After the main wave of exams, the GIA organizers do not publish the versions of past Unified State Exams. The last recognized leak of control and measurement materials occurred in 2013. In recent years, tasks have not appeared online before the exam.

Enthusiasts restore the versions from the words of graduates. «When children from the Far East come out and post their notes. They say: »look what I got.« Enthusiasts collect all this. Sometimes they even make beautiful PDF files on websites. They also organize streams at night in Moscow when the exam ends in the Far East,» said educational blogger Arseny Filin.

As the expert explained, in this way, test-takers hope to learn possible types of tasks, but usually it is meaningless because different regions have different versions.

How does the blocking threaten students?

Arseny Filin believes that the disappearance of collections of past years« tasks will be a great public loss. »Not in the sense that one can memorize the answers and come to take the exam. The point is that if a graduate does not prepare specifically for the Unified State Exam, then he will most likely fail it. This preparation is very much tied to past years« versions, which, unfortunately, are not officially published by Rosobrnadzor (the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science),» he explained.

The head of the «Independent Education Laboratory» project, Anton Chubukov, called the wording in the document «absolutely rubbery.» According to him, everything can be subsumed under it: from the discussion of tasks by graduates to catalogs of past years« tasks. This will create an unjustified advantage for those who retain access to the materials.

Chubukov also noted that part of the assessment depends on the ability to take the exam, which requires practice on real tasks.

Experts fear for large resources, such as «ReshEGE» (Solve EGE). Dmitry Gushchin, the portal«s editor-in-chief, stated that the wording of the law is too broad and can even affect methods of solving problems that are public domain.

Gushchin suggested that blocks could occur without trial and without feedback. He gave an ironic example: «You wake up in the morning and see that your internet resource is not functioning. And it was written, how to build a square with a side of three cells and what the sine of a right angle is.»

For preparation, many tasks are needed, and the demonstration versions contain only one task each. This demand is met by online schools, tutors, and internet resources, which may suffer.

Tutors« opinion

Physics tutor Alexander Zolotukhin, who runs a Telegram channel with 60,000 subscribers, believes that the bill is formulated vaguely. If the ban affects past years« Unified State Exam versions, it will complicate preparation and understanding of what to expect on the exam.

However, Zolotukhin supports the blocking of analyses of tasks from the Far East, because it unfairly gives an advantage to graduates from other regions. He noted that the impact depends on the subject: in mathematics, the principles of solution are the same, while in physics, the tasks are different.

The details of the initiative are still unclear. Among tutors, there are rumors that details will appear in early February.