Mauritanian bac results show higher success rate

30/07/2008

After a long delay, results were released last week in the Mauritanian baccalaureate examinations, bringing a troubled academic year to an end in the country. Overall results show a success rate of roughly 46%.

By Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 30/07/08

[Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud] Preliminary results from Mauritania's baccalaureate exams indicate the highest ever pass rate of approximately 46%.

One month after taking their baccalaureate exams, Mauritanian students are finally learning how they fared. Announcements of results began Friday (July 24th), with initial estimates showing a record high success rate of roughly 46%.

The release of baccalaureate results is always a major event in Mauritanian society, but this year drew even more attention than usual due to a 45-day general strike by the teachers' union which began during the last month of the school year.

This week, schools and internet cafés in Nouakchott filled with students looking for their test results, which were announced online, on the radio and by SMS.

"Thank God, finally my dream about the baccalaureate came true," said 23-year-old student Meryam. "My faith in the saying 'if you work hard you will succeed, and you'll reap what you've sown' has become stronger."

Meryam, accompanied by her mother, was encouraged by the news. "My success is a turning point in my life, as I now feel that I have realised what I have been aspiring to achieve," she said.

Some students who did not succeed blamed the teachers' strike.

"The reason behind my failure was clear and expected," said 22-year-old math student Ahmed Salem. "The strike strongly affected me, and the same thing happened to my colleagues. We couldn't find anyone to answer our questions, which we had to take with us into the exam halls without answers," he said.

"All the teachers just disappeared for a month and a half before the baccalaureate, and we stayed without any preparation," Salem told Magharebia.

Other students tried to lay the blame on educational institutions and their programmes.

"Most of the lessons were off-topic because some institutions didn't make their teachers abide by the prescribed curricula," said Mohammed Fadhel.

I feel that a huge opportunity to change my life has slipped by my hand," he added. Meanwhile, exam officials interviewed by Magharebia consider this year's increase in the success rate to be attributable to the education ministry's recent efforts, including starting the 2007-2008 school year on time (October 1st), encouraging teachers to teach by increasing the chalk allowance to 15,000 ounces and extending the teaching hours.

Others attribute the improvements to "the 100% compatibility of questions to the curriculum; something that wasn't happening in the previous years," said teacher Alman ould Mahfouz.

However, everyone agrees that this year has been "extraordinary" because of the dispute between the teachers, who were demanding improvement of their conditions, and the officials of the Ministry of Education, who said the current year's budget wouldn't allow it.

Even though the two sides couldn't reach a solution, the strike was ended and most of the teachers took part in grading the baccalaureate exams.