We live in times of red lines, red lists, red herrings and red marking pens. The last of these were pulled from bags in May by examiners tasked with marking the papers. A time suspended between hope, fear and joy. One thing that is already cause for celebration: of the 184,000 candidates sitting the central examinations, roughly half (92,000) have immersed themselves in questions about biology – some 50,000 vmbo pupils, 22,000 havo pupils and 21,000 vwo pupils (source: Press pack, College voor Toetsen en Examens). A moment when many households find themselves weighing up the plant hormone abscisic acid and the breeding of pythons (vmbo gl/tl exam, 21 May), the conservation of the white-tailed eagle and the potential of duckweed as a new vegetable (havo exam, 14 May), and Escobar’s hippos and histamine intoxication in tuna salads (vwo exam, 23 May).
That the questions set and the answers prescribed in advance give rise to disbelief, despair and satisfaction among teachers is a perennial issue (see the Poll alongside). Was the marking scheme not far too strict, and the question misleading? What filled me with joy above all were the contexts, through which the exam setters manage to bring current themes to the fore. Climate change in the question about the winter coat of stoats (vmbo gl/tl exam), or the excessive use of fungicides in the question about a weakened immune response as a result of aspergillosis (havo exam).
Although the marking form no longer lists the sources of inspiration for questions, we as a specialist journal can at least note that we have covered many of the contexts mentioned. In a number of questions the researchers involved are even named: such as the Wageningen research into the edibility of duckweed by Ingrid van der Meer (havo exam) and the mini-venom glands of Hans Clevers (vwo exam). There was even a quiet tribute to the Utrecht ecophysiologist and Raad van de Biologie chair Rens Voesenek, who died in 2023, in the question about the effects of flooding on plants (vwo exam). An exam as a fine test and silent witness that you left a legacy behind.
Gert van Maanen, editor-in-chief, Bionieuws