Reform to axe high school exams

Grade eight and 10 exams will be phased out next year, says Education Minister Nick Kuman.
Kuman told Parliament last Thursday that under an education reform to be implemented starting next year, students would only be required to sit for their grade 12 exams.
“In 2018, we will have grade one to six in the primary system and grade seven to 12 in the high school system,” he said.
“And for those schools with a big capacity, we will have grade one to 12 in one school.”
Kuman said that students would only sit for their grade 12 exams as most jobs and vocational schools only accepted grade 12 certificates.
“This year, 115,000 students sat for the grade eight exams while 66,000 sat for the grade 10 exams. Only some will be selected to continue their education and that is why we want to phase out both exams to give equal opportunities to the students.”
He said that the reform of the education system would see the phasing out of pre-school learning and concentrate on early childhood or what is now known as the ward education system.
“We will introduce early childhood learning for four to six-year-old children at their wards so that when a child does grade one, he or she can be familiar with the alphabet and numbers,” he said.
Kuman said that the reform was aimed at improving the quality of learning for students.
He asked Parliament to support the reform and help the Government with their DSIP and PSIP funds to build the capacities of schools in their electorates and provinces to improve learning standards.