"French Teacher Who Burned Test Papers Says 'Even After 7 Years of Teaching, Students Can't Speak English Well'"

France's 'Baccalaureate' 63 Answer Sheets Destroyed
"It Was an Act to 'Publicize' Public Education," Claim

A high school teacher in Paris, France, who was dissatisfied with the education system, was put on trial after burning graduation exam papers.

According to local broadcaster BFM and others, Victor Immordino (29), a contract teacher who teaches English at a vocational high school in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, was suspended after burning 63 Bacalaureate exam papers in front of the school on the 9th (local time).

Until the trial takes place on October 27, Immordino is prohibited from accessing the school. However, Immordino told BFM that his goal was to draw attention to raise awareness about the problems inherent in the current education system.

He said, "I looked at the (students') exam papers, and it was disastrous," adding, "If I had graded them as they were, they would not have received good scores." He also argued that it was not a bad thing since students whose graduation exam papers were damaged can retake the exam.

Students taking the French university entrance exam, Baccalaur?at. [Image source=Yonhap News]

In an interview with the French media outlet Le Parisien, Immordino said, "I informed students of the topics in advance so that those who are not good at English could pass the graduation exam, but the questions were changed at the last moment," adding, "Since I am also responsible for students not being able to speak English, I thought I should at least help them get good scores on the graduation exam."

He emphasized, "By burning my students' exam papers at the school where I work, I wanted to signal the need to fundamentally change the way we have been doing things. Even after seven years of learning and graduating, students cannot speak English. This concerns the entire class, and the students should not be blamed."

The French Minister of Education condemned Immordino's actions in an official Twitter post but also stated that measures would be taken to ensure that students do not suffer disadvantages because of this incident.

Meanwhile, the Bacalaureate is the public education graduation exam in France. Its history dates back to the era of Emperor Napoleon in the 19th century. It is similar to South Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), but differs in that it uses absolute grading. All students who score 50% (10 points) or more out of a total of 20 points are granted admission eligibility to general national and public universities.