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German Teenager Gets Job Offer By Trying To Use FOI For His Exam Papers
Bruce66423 writes "A German schoolboy has taken exam preparation to ingenious new levels by making a freedom of information request to see the questions in his forthcoming Abitur tests, the equivalent of A-levels in the UK." and SATS in the USA. The media attention from his FoI request has already garnered him an offer of work from another transparency-related organization, the research website Correctiv. “If I have time before university starts I’ll definitely do it,” he said.
Off to the gulag with you, Adolf.
Give this kick a commendation for original thinking.
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So he made this request, haha, but who informed all the numerous reporters, and to what end?
When at (English) school I learned about data protection and freedom of information, the first thing I wondered was, "Can I use these to get copies of my marked exam answers?" (to check whether it's been done properly) and secondly, "What about copies of my exam questions?"
The answers were respectively no and no. In fact, there were explicit mentions of academic data.
The German reputation for ruthless efficiency in finding solutions is really a Prussian reputation for Realpolitik - in this case, of the ability to sell yourself as far more impressive than you really are.
I would have replied to the request that he would be provided with the information... and stated the date and time of his exam :)
Otherwise known as "The Grauniad", because of the endless typos. Who the fuck writes "but keeps revising in likelihood request is denied". That isn't even English. That's the mentality of the Left wing assholes who produce The Guardian, arrogant, nation-wrecking tossers, who are terrified of open debate. I wonder why.
If they did grant him the questions, wouldn't he just be failed for cheating?
It's a sign of the times, that finding new ingenious ways to cheat gets you a job offer, instead of expulsion and a reputation that would keep you out of a decent job for the rest of your life, as it would in my days.
Not that I'm getting old, I'm only 56.
Freedom of information is one of those ideas that's such a popular idea no-one will touch the legislation, but the law is typically worded so vaguely that it causes real problems.
Are legislators just lazier than they used to be?
Had this taken place in the US at a USian university he would have found a reason to arrest him under the USSR^h^hA Patriot Act and/or permanently expelled from uni with no job prospects other than "Do you want fries with that" if he is lucky enough to get one at all. Thank you Shrub and the Gas and Oil Party for being the paranoid nutcases that put yet another nail in the freedom in the US.
Because the A+ certification here in the USA is an utter joke.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
...claim that the test questions could be useful for terrorists so it's a matter of national security?
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
Anybody here ever study for a FAA written exam?
When I wrote exams for my students I always gave them an outline. The outline was based on the syllabus. My goal was to get them to study the core material which they would need to advance their knowledge. The test was as much a tool to spur learning as it was to evaluate learning. Though I always warned them that there would be one 'zinger' in the lot to help me sort the A's from the B's.
I also had instructors who published prior years exams so you could prep for the current exam. They would often promise to use at least one question on the exam
from a prior exam which often to my delight actually occurred. In doing so I often took prior years' exams meaning I reviewed the material several times before actually taking the exam. Once again the test was a teaching tool.
A good "heads up" test writer knows this.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
If their FOI requests are like ours, probably not. There are strict rules one has to follow including time frames. Provided he did the request enough in advance, failure to produce the results within a very specific allotted amount of time could have big repercussions.
Does this Correctiv pseudo-company hire only leftist idiots?
Seems so.
FOI abuses happen all the time. I get them. There are ways to sometime turn them down depending on the situation. However usually you still have to go through all the motions, do a ton of work, and waste a lot of time. From my experience, if this kid were really smart he would have not only did an FOI for the questions, but for the ANSWERS as well...
Even if the answers do not exist as records, in many cases they would be obligated to actually come up with them. I do analysis all the time for questions posed in FOI requests which I like to call working as a free consultant for the public... I mean why hire some consulting firm, when you can just get some poor jerk to do it as part of an FOI request... Not that I am bitter or anything.
leftist organisation gains media attention by offering a cheater a job. where are the real news?
Doesn't this just open up a market for using a contractor to administrate these exams? The questions and answers would become trade secret rather than public record.
Write him a letter back saying that you have the Abitur questions ready to ship, but if he *takes* that Abitur cycle after having received the questions, he will be penalized (and his score invalidated), as any other student would, if found to possess advance copies of an exam s/he later took. Similarly an investigation would be undertaken into any other Abitur takers (i.e. all his classmates, on-line contacts, etc.) with whom he may have shared his advance knowledge of the questions.
"Given this, sir, might we suggest that you withdraw your request until after you've taken the Abitur?"
TFA (and many articles on the subject - disclaimer: I live in Germany and read local news sources, too) forgets to mention something important which is very likely the reason that he gets job offers:
He didn't just send a "here's my cute idea" letter. He actually studied the law in question, his letter is said to be full of legalese mentioning all the important paragraphs. The letter is so that the agency responsible for handling them is now looking if they can find an actual, valid reason to refuse his request, because they couldn't on purely formal reasons (which they usually use when refusing a request they don't like).
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
That's a funny answer, but an illegal one. He took great care to make sure that the deadline set by law for their answer is ahead of the exam date.
Just because he gets the answers legally doesn't mean he's allowed to use them and not be cheating. Cheating isn't usually illlegal, but it does have academic consequences. Personally I would probably give him a little award of some kind he can stick on his resume (e.g. a commendation for original thinking) but tell him he can't sit for the exam on that date.
"offer of work from another transparency-related organization" it illustrates just so well how the 'transparency related organizations' work and what are their true objectives.
Do they care that guy tried to use flaw in law to get unfair advantage -NO
Do they care if guy knows something and in fact could be an imbecile - NO
Do they care if all this case is silly hype - NO
I guess all these 'transparency-related organizations' ever want is attention, noise, proving somebody (but the best - be it government or corporation) being idiot or villain, regardless of facts, causes, any purpose or any common sense.
Mandatory testing specifically for university placement is the bigger problem. It forces people to take paths that are unsuitable for them, just because "the test said so". For that, I applaud the person filing the FoI and hope that none of the snark, redaction, or delays gets in the way.
The Abitur is simply a part of a flawed system where a few mandatory test scores divine out the rest of your life. On the other hand, the US system doesn't have these flaws - it allows more people to receive higher levels of education.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.