Skopje, 9 August 2024 (MIA) – The August session for the 2023-24 academic year will take place next week for high school graduates, who do not pass or fully complete the state graduation exam in the June session.

High school graduates across the country are to take on Monday (Aug. 12) their Native Language and Literature examination, the first external exam.

According to the State Examination Center, 1,626 high school graduates in the 2023-24 school year applied to take the Macedonian language exam; 932 applied for the Albanian language exam, and 66 applied for the Turkish language exam.

The first external exam (Native Language and Literature) will be taken by 779 students: of them, 519 are registered for Macedonian language exam, 231 for Albanian language exam, and 29 for Turkish language exam.

As their second exam, most students have opted to take an English language test (1,777 candidates); 59 high school seniors will take a Mathematics exam; two will take German; 4 will take French; 3 will take an Aesthetics exam, and no candidates will take Russian and Philosophy. 

The second exam will be taken on Wednesday (Aug.14).

The June state graduation exam session, for which more than 14,800 students registered, ended with an average grade of 3.25. The results are lower compared to the past three years (3.65 in 2023, 3.78 in 2022, and 3.61 in 2021). Nevertheless, according to the State Examination Center, this is an objective result that accurately reflects the students' knowledge, as stricter measures were introduced this year.

At the announcement of the results, Education Minister Vesna Janevska shared two measures for the next academic year. She stated that she will insist on holding the state graduation exams in amphitheaters and other facilities of public universities where signal blockers and other technology are available to prevent the use of communication devices during the exams.

The second measure will involve changes to the regulations for taking the state graduation exams, focusing on increasing the responsibilities of the individuals involved in the process.

Photo: MIA archive