The proposal to postpone Matsec examinations would lengthen the school year by five teaching weeks and may reduce students' workload and stress levels, enabling more of them to pass the exams at first go.
The report Matsec - Strengthening a National Examination System, recommends that the main session be postponed to June and the re-sits to November or December.
The report was drawn up by the Matsec Review Committee set up by the Education Minister to carry out a review of the Matsec examinations at SEC and Matriculation levels.
While the one-month re-schedule of the May session to a later date is likely to be welcomed by teachers who would have more time to finish their syllabus, the September change means that the student would have to miss a year, whether he/she passes the re-sit.
The review committee, made up of chairman Grace Grima, Raymond Camilleri, Saviour Chircop and Frank Ventura, found out that a number of problems are associated with the present timeline.
The committee said that the early timeframe - with oral examinations held as early as the end of March (depending on the date of Easter) and written examinations starting in late April - is having a negative impact on the length of the last year at school.
"Excluding the Christmas holidays, the time devoted to mock final examinations in February and other school activities that affect the time available for teaching, the last year at school is reduced to around 23 weeks for secondary and 25 weeks for post-secondary schools.
"As a result of the shortened school year, teachers and students at both SEC and Matriculation Certificate levels complain that either there is not enough time to cover the syllabus or the syllabus is too long or a combination of both," the review stated.
"These factors influence students' workload and stress levels. It is claimed that this situation compels teachers to force feed their students with the knowledge required for the examination. Students, in turn, resort to cramming rather than meaningful understanding. The common perception is that they only need to regurgitate knowledge during the examination."
The committee found out that several students and parents were concerned about the number of examinations being held in a relatively short span of time, and the increased stress which resulted from a crowded schedule with morning and afternoon sessions. Dr Grima said that by lengthening the school year, the students would have five more teaching weeks before the examinations in June.
"Hopefully fewer students would be required to take re-sits since the school year would be extended by five teaching weeks," she said.
"This is equivalent to the study period between the issue of results in July and the supplementary in September. The additional teaching time should therefore help more students make it the first time round," Dr Grima said.
"The study conducted by Dr Josette Farrugia shows that very few students who enter university after passing their supplementary exams do well in the first year. Therefore it is better if they are strong in their entry requirements. The improvements to the current system are aimed to give students the opportunity to become strong in the areas they require for further study."
Furthermore, currently SEC re-sits are available in English Language, Maltese, Mathematics and a science subject. Students are only eligible to apply for a re-sit in these subjects if they obtain a Grade 6, 7 or U or if absent. Other subjects are not available. At Advanced level, currently a student is only able to re-sit one Advanced level, one Intermediate level and Systems of Knowledge examinations.
The situation is unfair on many of the students and the recommended change would allow students to re-sit any number of subjects irrespective of the grade obtained.
"The system will be fairer in terms of accessibility and more comprehensive in terms of the subjects on offer. It is thus addressing the major complaints that currently exist about this aspect of the local examination system," Dr Grima said.