Re-sits raise Junior Lyceum exam pass rate to 71 per cent

Some 71 per cent of students who sat for this year’s Junior Lyceum exams have now passed following re-sits held last month, the government said yesterday.

On July 30, re-sits were held for students who failed one subject during the May session. There were 339 students eligible – 138 for mathematics, with 35 passes, and 201 for English, with 79 passes. The re-sit pass rate was 33.6 per cent.

Seven students were absent from the maths exam and a further five from the English exam.

The additional 114 passes brought the total number of passes for this year’s Junior Lyceum exam session to 2,122, marking a 3.8 per cent rise over last year’s 67.2 per cent pass rate.

Junior Lyceum entrance exams were introduced in 1981 to stream better performing students from others. The exams, sat for by children attending state and several private schools at about 10 or 11 years of age, represents a major milestone for schoolchildren and the last few years in primary school are dedicated to getting through them.

However, they will now be replaced with a “more inclusive” system along with changes in the national minimum curriculum to “better reach the inclinations and preferences of all children”.

In this way, the Education Ministry said, the number of students studying beyond compulsory schooling will increase.

At first, the Junior Lyceum exam used to test children in maths, English and Maltese. At the time, less than 30 per cent of those who sat for the exam passed. Six years later, however, the number had increased to 48 per cent.

In 1988, social studies and religion were added to the examination and, in 1996, half the students passed. Last year, 70 per cent of those who sat for the exam were successful and, this year, social studies was not in the list.

In June next year, a national exam will be introduced at the end of primary school, testing students in maths, English and Maltese. The result will be used to assess students’ strengths and weaknesses. They will, however, carry on studying in mixed ability classrooms.