[etni] Re: exam proctors
- From: Lev Abramov <lev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ask@xxxxxxxx, ETNI <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 08:59:09 +0300
**** ETNI on the web http://www.etni.org.il http://www.etni.org ****
On Tue, 2004-05-18 at 22:51, ask@xxxxxxxx wrote:
> snip-----
>
> I don't understand why the ministry hasn't come up with this idea,
> which will save them millions of shekels and, in my opinion, be far
> more serious than the hiring of inexperience proctors.
>
> snip---------
Like the majority of low-paid workforce, proctors are hired via all
sorts of employment agencies which get the money from the dwindling
ministry budget at the rate of about NIS40 per hour - and pay these
proctors NIS18 an hour keeping the rest as their commission (over
100%!). I don't have hard evidence to prove my point, but something
tells me that certain stakeholders have vested interest in keeping the
present system, rather than saving some of the money thus wasted. Ever
hear the expression "a kickback under the table?"
There are fatter deals, too: for example, all the hishtalmuyot in Israel
are supervised by two large contractors; one controlling the in-service
courses for teachers, the other one being in charge of the rest. The
"inspectors" who check attendance are paid peanuts; most of the money
finds its way to the pockets of the owners of these agencies.
Here's another example of how much money is wasted. Those of you who
have taken online courses with us certainly paid attention to the
brand-new virtual learning environment we are so proud of, called
Moodle. Not to boast - but it can rival such industry flagships as WebCT
and BlackBoard. With the only difference: it is free. OpenSource=General
Public Licence.
Why, then, does the ministry prefer to promote HighLearn - a proprietary
content management system developed by Bareket (with a poorer set of
features!) - even though its licence fees are in the four-zero bracket?
The list is much longer, and inquisitive minds can append it with
information of their own.
However, no-one will move a finger to amend the situation, save money
and save hundreds of teachers from getting fired this year.
On this cheerful note... -
Lev
(no sense in trying to remain anonymous - you'd figure out who's writing
this, anyway...)
Lev Abramov <lev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
The Schiffman Institute Ltd. <www.schiffman.biz>
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