The president of the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT), Marco Bonnici, has told The Malta Independent on Sunday that the SEC (ordinary level) examination system is to include continuous assessment constituting 40 per cent of the final grade.
This change will take effect as of the next scholastic year, starting with Form 3 students, who will be following a revised syllabus.
This reform mirrors the system already in place across primary and secondary schools, where continuous assessment has replaced mid-yearly examinations and where students are now assessed throughout the scholastic year.
While this change only applies to SEC examinations, the MATSEC board has also announced a proposal to introduce continuous assessment as part of intermediate and advanced studies.
The board has proposed that all students at intermediate and advanced level should be assessed by teachers. This would constitute 20 per cent of the final grade. Such assessments would be carried out by the school but moderated by MATSEC, the proposal reads. Although this change was initially expected to take effect in Academic Year 2020-2021, Bonnici says the proposal has not yet been confirmed.
‘Proposal for exams at school needs re-thinking ‘
Students currently sit for their O Levels at various schools around Malta.
Despite a proposal to allow students to sit for exams at their respective schools, Bonnici said that this option may not be feasible and should be rethought. He added that this proposal may be logistically difficult since other classes would still be taking place, among other issues.
Extension of Form 5 scholastic year
Form 5 students generally do not complete the full scholastic year, finishing a few weeks before SEC exams are due to take place.
Asked whether there were any plans to extend the scholastic year for Form 5 students, making it obligatory to complete the year, Bonnici said that while some students still attended revision classes at the end of the year, obliging students to attend lessons till the end of the scholastic year while also sitting for exams may not be ideal.
