Students who took final exams during Ramadan in 2018 and 2019 received lower grades. This increased the chance that they would fall. Scientists from Erasmus University have calculated this. The results have been published in economists magazine ESB.
The researchers linked statistical data from CBS and Cito, among others, and used an algorithm to make probability calculations. They did not look at the results of individual students.
Even before the final exams coincided with Ramadan, the pass rate among Islamic students was lower than that of other students. According to the researchers, that gap widened by 17 percent when performance during Ramadan was viewed. The final exam results of fasting Muslim students in 2018 and 2019 were “significantly lower” than those of the other students. As a result, the chance that they had to repeat the final exam year increased by 12.5 percent. Researchers also calculated the probability that pupils who were no longer of school age would leave school without a diploma. That chance was 22.4 percent higher.
Read also: “I’ve been hungry from the moment I wake up”
Parliamentary questions
Ramadan lasts for thirty days, and those who participate in it abstain from food and drink for about sixteen hours a day. There are also fewer hours of sleep, because people only eat before sunrise and after sunset.
In Great Britain and Flanders, there were calls in 2016 to take Ramadan into account when planning exams. Member of Parliament Tunahan Kuzu (at the time split off from the PvdA as Group Kuzu/Öztürk) asked questions about this to then State Secretary for Education Sander Dekker (VVD). According to Dekker, shifting the central final exams in the Netherlands was impossible, because that would be too complicated due to the long duration of Ramadan. He also pointed out that Muslim students can choose to move their fasting period.
The researchers propose another solution. They suggest scheduling exams during Ramadan as much as possible in the afternoon. Examination students who fast would then be able to sleep in after the morning meal (suhoor), which takes place before sunrise.