Objectivity of criteria for the selection of candidates in cases of limited enrolment into secondary education programs

Erika Semen

Summary:   The objectivity of criteria for the selection of candidates in cases of limited enrolment into secondary education programs is represented using two criteria, both based upon achieving standards of knowledge as defined in curricula, i.e. (i) final school grades in Year 9 and (ii) achievement in the National Assessment of Knowledge examinations in Year 9. The analysis of the objectivity of the criteria is based on the assumption that in both cases an equal amount of knowledge is assessed. The first part of the article presents data on the inclusion of young people in education as well as data on the openness of secondary education programs to pupils’ desires by using the ISCED-97 international classification. The represented data allow for an easier understanding of the problem of objectivity of criteria described in the second part; the central subject of the article. This section reveals that pupils’ final grades in Year 9 of primary school do not correspond to pupils’ achievements in the National Assessment of Knowledge examinations in Year 9 and are, if one is concerned about fairness, therefore questionable as the only criteria used for enrolment into secondary schools with limited enrolment. In addition, they are dubious as the only criteria for enrolment into the most demanding secondary education programs also from the point of view of the quality of knowledge as shown in some tasks attempted in the National Assessment of Knowledge examinations in mathematics.