Students query ‘short’ exam time

SIX teachers from Hagen Park Secondary School, Western Highlands, locked themselves up in the staff room of Togoba Secondary School after angry Grade 10 students confronted them to ask why they were given only two-hours, instead of three, to sit for their mathematics national examinations yesterday.
The students claimed that the cover of the examination papers clearly showed that it was to be a three-hour examination.
The test was divided into three parts, Part A (1 to 25) was multiple choices questions, Part B (26 to 45 short answers questions) and Part C (46) was extended response question.
Seven out of the 490 students, who sat for the paper, visited The National office in Mt Hagen yesterday and said many students did not answer all the 46 questions before their answer sheets were collected by the teachers from Hagen Park who had supervised the exam.
The frustrated students, who claimed to speak on behalf of other students, who were still waiting outside the staff room for answers, said that majority of the students were on Part B questions when their examination invigilators told them that time was up and started collecting their papers.
They said that out of the eight Grade 10 classes, two classes used the students’ mess to be examined while six classes used their classrooms to be examined.
The students claimed they started at 9.45am and were told to stop at 11.45am, a total of two hours.
They said after their papers were collected, they went to seek an explanation from the visiting teachers but the teachers, probably fearing that they may be attacked, rushed into the staff room and locked themselves in.
The students said their own school  teachers came and addressed them, telling them to keep calm while they sought an explanation from the provincial education office.
Theywill sit for their business studies examination today and said they did not expect a repeat to yesterday’s time-keeping.
The students demanded they be given the full three hours for their national examinations for the remaining seven days.
Attempts made to get in touch with education authority in the province yesterday for further comments were unsuccessful.