Is there a question error in the LGS? A lawsuit for a stay of execution has been filed

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Akşemsettin Secondary School 8th-grade student Ali Taha Genç recounted the process and his experiences regarding the lawsuit he filed with the Ankara 8th Administrative Court, claiming that the answer to a question in the central exam held on June 2 as part of the High School Transition System (LGS) was incorrect.

In a report by Cumhuriyet, Ali Taha Genç stated that after comparing his results with the answers published by the MEB following the LGS exam, he began his research upon seeing that he had answered the 13th Science question in the Numerical Section Booklet A incorrectly.

Genç stated that he first consulted physics teachers about the question, and later saw in a YouTube video by a lecturer from METU Physics that the answer he had marked was correct. He noted that when he shared the situation with his family, they decided to file a lawsuit with his father, Aziz Genç, who is a lawyer.

Noting that one incorrect answer costs nearly 5.33 points, Genç said, "I cannot get into a school that accepts students with 480 points if I have 475. For someone scoring 360-370, 5 points might not have much of an effect. Think of someone who gets a perfect score; there is a world of difference between 495 and 500 points. The impact of a single question is huge."

Genç stated that according to his calculations, he had 86 correct and 4 incorrect answers in the exam, and that his goal was Vefa or Pertevniyal High School, adding, "We are requesting that the answer be changed to option A or that the question be cancelled."

"WE FILED A LAWSUIT FOR A STAY OF EXECUTION"

Genç's lawyer, Mevlüt Polat, noted that they filed a lawsuit for a stay of execution within the legal process, stating, "The court will make its final decision after reviewing the entire file. A stay of execution is a precautionary measure that temporarily suspends an action. The calendar is very tight, there is a limited amount of time. It does not seem possible for the court to handle the file in its entirety and reach a final decision within this limited time after the stay of execution decision."

Evaluating the court's decision-making process on this matter, Polat stated the following:

"If the announcement of results comes onto the agenda in this short time, the Ministry of National Education (MEB) could remove this question from the evaluation or might have to make an assessment as if all students had answered this question correctly. A stay of execution means that this question never existed in the legal realm."

FROM THE PETITION

In the lawsuit petition where student Ali Taha Genç's parents are listed as "plaintiffs" and the MEB as the "defendant," it was stated that Genç is also a student at the Science and Art Centers (BİLSEM), has had a successful educational life, and had been preparing for the LGS exam for a long time with many supplementary support programs.

The petition noted that Genç took the LGS exam and answered almost all questions correctly, and checked his results after the questions and answers were published by the MEB, stating, "When the client checked the answers, he saw that the answer to the 13th Science question in the Numerical Section Booklet A was option C. When he re-checked the question and the answer, it was understood that the correct answer should actually be option A, and therefore the answer was incorrect."

The petition stated that Genç needed to answer almost all the questions correctly to be placed in the high school he wanted, adding, "If the incorrect answer is not cancelled and it is not determined that the correct option is A, he will suffer serious material and moral grievances because he will not be able to receive the points he deserves and will not be able to go to the school he wants."

The petition, which includes details about the question in question and why the answer should be option A, stated, "It is known that rankings and the schools one is placed in change with a single question. If the exam results are announced in this way, the client's score and the schools he is placed in will change, and this situation will cause serious grievances for both the client and other candidates."

THE CORRECT ANSWER TO THE QUESTION WAS ANNOUNCED AS OPTION C

The 13th Science question, which is the subject of the lawsuit and features an image consisting of a worker, a board, the ground, a ceiling, and pulleys, and for which the correct answer is shown as option C according to the answer key announced by the MEB, is as follows:

A non-stretching rope is passed through pulleys attached to the ceiling and the board as shown in the system used to carry a board with equal divisions, whose properties and weight are the same everywhere. When this rope is held by workers as shown in the figure, the board remains in horizontal equilibrium. In this system, the weights of the pulleys, the rods to which the pulleys are attached, and the rope, as well as friction, are ignored. Given that the board is moved from the position shown in the figure to a certain height by applying the smallest forces, and that the board is only in horizontal equilibrium at the beginning and at the end of the process,

I. The workers started pulling the rope at the same time.

II. The lengths of the rope pulled by the workers throughout the process are equal to each other.

III. The force applied by the workers to the rope at the beginning and at the end is less than the weight of the board.

Which of the judgments are definitely correct?

A) Only III B) I and II C) II and III D) I, II and III