The second session exams start this Monday in universities and colleges. The students have received the directives in recent days. The Minister of Higher Education in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation was the guest of RTL INFO 7pm this Sunday to specify how this second session will take place as well as the coming back to school in a few weeks. She answered questions from our journalist Antoine Schuurwegen.
Antoine Schuurwegen: Under what conditions will this second session take place?
Valérie Glatigny: Most of the exams will be held at a distance, as was the case for the first session. And for the exams that will be held in person, a protocol has been sent to the establishments and passed on to the students in order to protect the health of the students and teachers. This notably provides for the wearing of a mask, compliance with the rules of distancing, also less than 100 people in the same place, and a maximum of three hours in the same room.
Antoine Schuurwegen: That’s for the form. Now the bottom. These sessions are still very special. Are we sure that the skill and knowledge levels are acquired by the students? Or should teachers lower their standards?
Valérie Glatigny: I don’t think the teachers have lowered their standards. We know very well that this is a very special year. What we have seen is an incredible effort by the entire higher education educational community to adapt to these circumstances and to provide new exam modalities so that students can still be tested. I think the results are positive since we have a slightly higher success rate, and especially a slightly lower dropout rate. In any case, what should be emphasized is the incredible responsiveness and adaptability of the students, who have managed to stay focused on their learning and their exams.
Antoine Schuurwegen: We talked about exams. In a few weeks it will be back to school. How will she organize herself?
Valérie Glatigny: The start of the academic year will in principle be in code yellow. That is to say with a maximum of face-to-face teaching. It is a campus said to be rich in contacts. This will allow students to have interactions, obviously in accordance with the rules of classic social distancing. As we know, it is important to preserve this face-to-face teaching. The quality of learning also depends on whether a teacher and students can be in contact. But obviously it will be necessary to show flexibility if sanitary conditions deteriorate. If a cluster (editor’s note: source of contagion) for example were identified in an audience, it would be necessary to be able to switch back to distance education and therefore switch back to code orange quickly.
Antoine Schuurwegen: You talk about social distancing. How are we going to do in medicine or law lecture halls, for example, where we sometimes already have students sitting down on the stairs for lack of space?
Valérie Glatigny: We will probably have to plan that not everyone has classes at the same time. A series of practical arrangements will have to be planned and that will be the subject of a meeting with the establishments this Friday. All these rules must be concerted, explained and accepted by everyone in order to be respected by as many people as possible.
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