Baccalaureate

Thanks to the cooperation of all our supporters and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, four school buildings are being newly reconstructed in our school reconstruction and hygiene promotion projects. Three out of four schools are already in progress, but the remaining one is yet to be touched. Why would that be?

The annual baccalaureate exam for Iraqi students is held in June. Sixth graders take this exam to graduate, seniors in intermediate schools (for 3 years from age 12) and secondary schools (3 years from age 15) to graduate and enter higher level schools. Exams are taken one subject at a time every two days, and in total it takes two weeks to complete. The examination fee is free. The cut-off line is 50% correct answers to pass this exam. If students fail to pass, they need to retake the exam next year. Apparently, retaking the exam places you in further disadvantage since each retake deduces one point from your total score. Students who are retaking the exam for the first time are allowed to repeat their senior year to prepare for it, but they must prepare for the second retake and then on by themselves.

Grade dictates students’ options for high school. Without good grades, it becomes difficult for seniors in intermediate school to go on to secondary schools. In this case, they could go into industrial, commercial, or technical high schools. If you are a senior in secondary school, grades will affect your chances to become accepted to prestigeous national universities with excellent professors and free tuition.

Since the one remaining school was being used as a baccalaureate exam site, we were not able to commence our project there.