While some young people were eager to consult their notes for any last-minute doubts, others considered that there was little to do: what had not been learned up to that moment was probably not going to be retained in just a few minutes. These are just two examples of the scenes that were experienced yesterday at the doors of the Blas Cabrera Institute, the Lanzarote headquarters of the University Access Tests (PAU) that began yesterday.
The first test was Spanish Language and Literature, which presented a text on female abuse for students to comment on. In addition, it had other questions, such as the identification of a stylistic resource in a sentence or the theory of a type of subordinate clauses.
Despite the changes in denomination or structure to which it has been subjected with educational reforms and the fact that the approval rates are very high, the old Selectividad continues to arouse fear among young people. Proof of this are the nerves that some of the students were experiencing yesterday: an inopportune forgetting of the National Identity Document or an incomplete list in which a couple of names did not appear caused small upsets that were finally resolved with the help of the teaching staff.
What also caused unease was the vocabulary of the English exam, which compared addiction to mobile phones with tobacco. At the end of the test, Carlota and Raquel, from the Yaiza Institute, commented on how complicated the exam had seemed to them while waiting to start the Philosophy exam.
"And it wasn't because of nerves," Carlota specified, "it was that it was difficult." Her friend Raquel confirmed this idea, assuring that, compared to the tests of other years, this one surpassed them all. "And I've done at least 40," Raquel affirmed.
In this exam, students had to read and understand a text to answer some questions, define some words and order several parts of sentences that were mixed together. In addition, among other questions, they had to write a letter of about 100 words or an essay on the advantages and disadvantages of the mobile phone.
The two students were confident of obtaining at least a four so that the grade of the English exam would be taken into account and the average would be made with the rest of the tests. However, Carlota already saw herself doing an intensive English course during the summer. This young woman regretted that there was only one option to choose in the exam: "You only have one text and if you like it, fine, and if not, too."
After the foreign language exercise, the concerns of these two aspiring students of Advertising and Public Relations focused on the Geography and Art exams. "I still have several topics to study and about 30 slides," Carlota explained.
Number of students
A total of 330 students from Lanzarote enrolled to take the PAU, according to the island's Director of Education, Juan Cruz Sepúlveda, informed ACN Press. Cruz highlighted the small increase in examinees compared to last year, when 327 candidates applied to study at the University. A total of 273 students attended the June 2004 call, of which only 54 failed and in September 79 students of the 102 who took the exam passed.
The provisional grades will be given to the students on June 23 at the educational center where they took the tests and will also be published on the Internet. The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) also has a message service through mobile phones to know the grades immediately.
Examinees who disagree with the grades obtained can submit a simple claim or request a double correction on June 27, 28 and 29. The results of the double correction will take place on July 8 and the final resolutions of both claim procedures will be published on July 15.
A total of 3,358 students are taking the tests throughout the province, while in the province of Tenerife, 2,972 students have enrolled in this June call, although a greater influx is expected due to last-minute incorporations.
