Testing exams

In less than two years' time, Malta will be the only European country where primary school children must sit for an examination before they can proceed to secondary level.

Northern Ireland, the only other country in Europe to use this examination system, is expected to scrap it in 2008. This will leave just Malta and Singapore retaining this method.

The system has long been criticised because of the stress it puts on 10- and 11-year-old pupils and Dr Grima clearly feels the time has come to take another look at the situation.

"The children feel it is critical for them to pass this exam, which is considered to have very high stakes. They are saying that their future depends on it," she says, referring to the outcome of interviews held with pupils as part of the review.

Although she argues that some level of stress in an education system is normal and that a reasonable level of stress actually helps pupils perform better, she thinks there is a need to establish whether it's necessary to make pupils sit for exams in five different subjects. When the Junior Lyceum exam was introduced 25 years ago, pupils used to sit for exams in Maltese, mathematics and English. Social studies and religion were added later on.

The fact that children have to deal with so much content does not mean they are learning the right skills, she says.

"There is a lot of shallow learning, with children learning through procedure rather than really understanding the underlying principles of what they are being taught."

Children also have the added burden of having to pass all five subjects. "If a child fails one he will be considered in the same way as someone who failed everything."

Referring to the syllabus, Dr Grima explains that the working group is looking into whether pupils were given too much material to digest, which was then repeated in secondary school.

It is also looking at the possibility of having a benchmarking system, whereby pupils' progress is assessed over time to establish which level they have reached.

Turning to social studies, Dr Grima mentions the fact that children have to learn numerous details, including dates and who created particular pieces of art. "Is this the sort of art appreciation we want our children to learn?"

This parrot-like teaching could also be having an impact on the way children think. Dr Grima says children tend to consider mathematics as the most difficult subject because they need to use their brain to work out the questions instead of sitting down and reproducing what they have already learnt.

Moreover, she adds, when children say an exam is easy it normally means they have studied what they have been asked.

Social studies and religion were big failure subjects.

"We need to ask whether children need to go through this stress or whether there are other valid ways to assess pupils without a decision being solely based on an exam."

Boys go through the stress twice as some of them sit both for the Junior Lyceum exam for state secondary schools and for the common entrance exam to enter Church schools.

"We know that the stress levels are enormous for children and their parents. There are children who go to different teachers for private lessons and classes containing 25 pupils. If a pupil has difficulties it is acceptable for him to seek help after hours, but these are more like evening schools than private lessons."

She argues that parents send their children to private lessons with good intentions but do not realise that too much stress could actually be hindering pupils rather than helping them.

When asked whether preparing for exams was robbing children of their childhood, Dr Grima replies that during the interviews the pupils insisted their lives carried on as usual, though there was some effect close to the exam date. On the other hand, some lessons, like physical education and crafts, were not as frequent close to exam dates.

"Children take these exams very much in their stride, but they all describe it as an experience which includes a level of suffering, with some of them having nightmares about failing."

Dr Grima says the working group, launched under two weeks ago, was studying the advantages of systems that did not revolve around examinations both for students and teachers as well as for the education system.

"We need to ask whether the exam is serving the purpose it was set up to serve," she says, adding that when Northern Ireland carried out a quality analysis of their system they found it was not working as well as they thought. She explains that the exam result does not necessarily reflect the child's ability because there could be error in measurement.

The other side of the argument is that with life being a continuous competition, sitting for examinations at an early age prepares children for challenges they are likely to encounter. Dr Grima agrees that stress and exams are a part of life. However, she adds, it is important to make sure that pupils understand there is more to life than passing an examination.

"The formation of character and personality is as important as the subjects that pupils study. Are those who did not pass a failure in everything, including character?

"Research shows that the biggest problem for those who fail their exams is psychological, and I believe that the ultimate aim of this review is to have a system in place where we can say that at a particular time a child had certain abilities. It is very important that the system does not lead to children being considered failures, but rather they should be thought of as children who have not yet achieved a particular level."

Labelling, she says, is very detrimental, especially when one is dealing with children of such a young age.

She also maintains it is important for children to continue to face challenges and that should not end if they fail the Junior Lyceum exam. She said that in Church schools there were pupils with mixed abilities who managed to continue following the same programme.

The working group is also looking at the streaming system. She says that from an organisational point of view it is easier to have children grouped according to their abilities. But children develop differently, and even children who are at the same level learn at a different pace and are not equally strong in all subjects. However, Dr Grima says it is clear that some sort of grouping is in fact needed as it is not feasible to have classes of completely mixed abilities.

"Nobody would benefit if you have children of different abilities in the same class. We have to see which grouping models are best," she adds.

The recently opened St Benedict's College, where pupils who pass and those who fail their Junior Lyceum exam attend the same school, is also being looked at closely by the working group.