Wow. At least they were not accidentally taught about Cesar Romero instead of Julius Caesar. That would have been complete chaos!
Posted on 11/02/2025 12:53:00 PM PST by DFG
Teachers at nine high schools in northeastern Australia discovered days before an ancient history exam that they had mistakenly taught their students about the wrong Roman ruler — Augustus Caesar instead of his predecessor, Julius Caesar.
The students in Queensland ended up being exempt from the statewide exam on Wednesday while Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said he would investigate the mix-up, describing the experience for the students as "extremely traumatic."
Since the error in the curriculum was discovered on Monday, schools applied — and were granted — an exemption from the exam for their students, even as panicked high schoolers were cramming about Julius Caesar's exploits as a Roman general and statesman.
"I'm very unhappy about the situation," Langbroek told reporters in announcing that the 140 seniors affected by the mix-up would not have to sit the exam.
Langbroek said he would ensure those students were "not disadvantaged in any way."
Still, the incident brought a wave of criticism.
Parents complained that the panic created around the ancient history exam had distracted their children from preparing for other exams, including an earlier exam on Wednesday.
The exam amounts to 25% of the students' marks for the year. The students who were exempted from the test on Wednesday would be given credit based on their assessment for the remaining 75% of their marks.
The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority said it had told the state's 180 high schools two years ago that the ancient history exam topic would change to Julius Caesar in 2025. The topic had been Augustus Caesar for the previous four years.
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Great Caesar’s ghost!
I can get a few Caesars on the phone - with a side of wings.
Looks like somebody crossed the Rubicon of mistakes.
-PJ
They should find out who made the mistake and caesar.
Salad dressing dude ping!
A rather “limited” topic there!
Just ONE of the several very influential Caesar’s is “allowed to be tested upon”????
But, you see, there is a reason that I hold most teachers incompetent: The teachers - given a single limited person as a history topic FOR AN ENTIRE COURSE! - re-used the their single limited previous course notes for the new requirement.
And di not notice the difference.
Their administrators did not audit the course, did not notice the requirement nor the course were different!
I’m surprised the teacher didn’t ask them to write about Sid Caesar.
Wow. At least they were not accidentally taught about Cesar Romero instead of Julius Caesar. That would have been complete chaos!
The teachers that taught this history incorrectly are not knowledgeable of history. Otherwise they would have caught the error in the curriculum. Actually I am trying to say they are idiots.
Paul Newman?...................
The teachers that taught this history incorrectly are not knowledgeable of history. Otherwise they would have caught the error in the curriculum. Actually, I am trying to say they are idiots.
What percentage of US kids can name any Caesars?
“The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority said it had told the state’s 180 high schools two years ago that the ancient history exam topic would change to Julius Caesar in 2025. The topic had been Augustus Caesar for the previous four years.”
It depends what the mean by “had told”
Was this a one line change buried in dozens or hundreds of pages of documentation.
There is a lot to know about Julius Caesar. Maybe they should pick an easier Caesar, like Tervel, the Bulgar khan named a Caesar by the emperor Justinian II.
Does Sid Caesar count? Of course probably very few US kids today know who he was.
The teacher doesn’t know the difference is where I would start the investigation
Could be worse. It might have been about Caligula Caesar.
I’m just glad high-schoolers somewhere are even studying ancient history.
“””What percentage of US kids can name any Caesars?””
They would probably say Little Caesars. The Crazy Bread is awesome.
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