Students have been complaining that some of the papers are too hard. To make things worse the Ministry of Education pointed out that a printing error in the maths paper made one question impossible.
In the French paper they were asked to comment on Anatole France's work; they did not have to have studied the works of the Edwardian period author, but comment on a text. Many could not decide whether Anatole France's gender influenced the opinion as they had no idea if the author was a man or woman. One student commented that "Anatole - France" sounded like a football match.
The English comprehension passage described Manhattan in the pre-WWI era. Students were asked to say in which city the events took place and describe how it has changed in the time since. The problems were that the passage contained many architectural words and although they were not being asked for a translation many students could not understand. Nor did many know that Manhattan is in New York, United States.
An on-line petition has been set up to call for the cancellation of the paper.
One teacher was amazed that they could watch "CSI Manhattan" and not grasp that it was set in NY.
French lyceens have been protesting against the new labour laws - perhaps a bit more time studying might have helped - or is that just old-fogeyness?
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