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Show your cell phones: Abitur exam at a Hessian high school (2021)

Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa

After the alleged cheating with artificial intelligence in the written Abitur in Hamburg, the Bavarian Teachers' Association (BLLV) is calling for a reform of the classical grading system. "I believe that the rapid development of AI does not allow us to slowly evolve performance evaluation. We have to realize that our performance system is old school," BLLV President Simone Fleischmann told the German Press Agency in Munich.

"We have to stop seeing only the note as the only thing that makes us happy. In the private sector, everyone takes assessments. What's the point of a five?"

On Friday, it became known that some Hamburg students are suspected of cheating in exams for the Abitur with the help of artificial intelligence programs and using ChatGPT.

Schools should not ignore social developments, said Fleischmann: "We do not want to signal that we are negating developments in this promising area." Schools would have to react by teaching media literacy and a different evaluation system. »The handling of the source of information is crucial.«

The Association of German Secondary School Teachers (VDR) sees the whole thing somewhat differently. »Grades and AI are mutually exclusive? The logic behind this supposed statement is not clear," said VDR Federal Chairman Jürgen Böhm.

"Just because digital devices were not checked during exams in Hamburg, grades should be abolished? At least since the graphing calculator, it has been the responsibility of the ministries and ultimately teachers to take special precautions during examinations."