On June 2, 2010, together with the beginning of this year's session of independent external evaluation, OPORA launched a campaign of public observation of EIT. OPORA gives the main results of monitoring tests in the Ukrainian language and literature, and foreign languages ??(English, German, French, Spanish) in the Lviv region.
The biggest challenge for members of independent evaluations have become this year's innovations - the integration of the testing points and the need to have a certificate of EIT that offers entrants the right to access to testing. Such measures streamlined the organizational component of the EIT for the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment, saved funds spent on salaries of staff (commissioners, responsible for TP, instructors and senior instructors), and minimized the violation of rules and procedures for assessment in small towns. Despite the rational intentions of the UCEQE, innovation has added a lot of trouble for applicants who live in districts of the region, and reached to the TP themselves, whereas last year the transportation of participants to the PT was maintained by school and district departments of education. In addition, the increasing of rooms for testing points led to the fact that testing was conducted in classes of the primary school (secondary school № 9) desks in which are ill-equipped for grown-up students. There were cases when testing was conducted in the dining room, which united two audiences at once (secondary school № 68).
In the Lviv region on the first day of the EIT (June 2) 6.9% of applicants failed to appear for testing, OPORA observers recorded a large number of cases where applicants were not admitted to the testing of the Ukrainian language and literature (compulsory subject) because they hadn’t a certificate of independent external testing (secondary school № 2, Lviv, school № 81, Lviv, school number 9, Lviv, NEC of V.Symonenko, Lviv; School number 14, Drohobych). We remind that this year in order to get to the point of testing, students, in addition to than a passport and an invitation had to present a certificate issued by the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment. Certificates contain personal information about applicants, the number and names of subjects for which they are testing. During the testing the person from the Regional Center for Educational Quality Assessment stamps the certificate and confirms the presence of the graduate on the testing. Later the entrant must print the test results from their personal information page in the center of education quality evaluation and reinforce them with EIT certificate. There won’t be any laminated certificates sent to the graduates (as during the previous year).
Situation where the participant forgot the EIT certificate, was also complicated by the integration of test points, because of this parents from the far districts could not provide the documents in time. In addition, the responsible for the testing and representatives in each of PT acted differently: some were categorical and didn’t let the graduates enter the point, others let them in, if children had promised that parents would bring the certificate, some others - advised to contact the Lviv CEQE. Such actions of the personnel of the EIT do not provide equal access to education for all citizens. OPORA supposes that applicants that did not come to the point of testing because of their forgetfulness or ignorance may resort to corrupt schemes of the medical certificate to be eligible to register for an additional session. Given this, the organization recommends to resolve the situation with issuing an additional provision that would allow such members to participate in the additional session.
The most common mistake by staff at the testing points was incorrect packing of secure-packs of answers after the test. The mistake of instructors in classrooms was based on new design of the package, which now need to be sealed from inside. There were no other significant violations that could affect the course of testing.