Crunch time - Maturita Time

G4 /C4 - our graduating class of 2016

Matura  is a Latin name for the high-school exit exam or "maturita diploma" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. 

It is taken by students (usually aged from 17 to 20) at the end of their secondary education, and generally must be passed in order to apply to a university.

The official term for Matura in the Czech Republic is maturita or maturitní zkouška. In 2010 the Czech Republic introduced a system of state exams which divided the previous system into two parts. The first is the state exam which consists of two compulsory subjects: Czech language & literature and a foreign language and, voluntarily, mathematics (the combination is chosen by students). The second part consists of school subjects which varies between schools.

The state part of the exam is supervised by CERMAT (formerly Centrum pro reformu maturitní zkoušky, "Centre for Maturita Reform; now Centrum pro zjišťování výsledků vzdělávání, "Centre for Detection of Education Results"), a state managed company. CERMAT issues final tests for the state part of the exam, documentation and practical tests, holds training for teachers who correct essays and supervise the students during the exams.

The examination itself is also divided between written and oral parts but not all subjects require both written and spoken input (for example math is formed by a written test only). Usually both the written and the oral part of the exam are set in late spring. The state part of the written exam is set to one day in which students in the whole country write identical tests, different tests are always issued on the day the exam takes place. The school part is always different and is based on requirements of the school which issues the test so it may be both written and spoken, but it can also be only one of the options.

If students fail in one subject they have the option to repeat the subject, if they fail more than one subject then they have to repeat the complete set of exams including the written part. All students have a maximum of three attempts to succeed in this exam, if they fail to succeed they end secondary school without the maturita and are unable to apply for college or university. 

So what does all this mean for our students (and as it happens, for my older son)? It means that those young men and women have finally came to a conclusion that they  must start studying. That the life of fun and "I forgot my homework"" is long over. Suddenly, they show up in class. Suddenly, they ask questions and some of them have even found the local library. 

With few months to go, I would like to wish our graduating class all the best and good luck on the upcoming Maturita Exams :-)