Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1138429
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 JULY 2019 ANALYSIS JAMES DEBONO PHASING out benchmark ex- ams and replacing them with an alternative system which gives more importance to continuous assessments, is only one of many proposals made in the 25 recommenda- tions made in a report chaired by Prof Mark G. Borg, issued by the Ministry for Education. These are some of the reforms set to change everyday life in Maltese classrooms. 1. Three benchmark assess- ments in different phases of educational journey instead of current one should be considered in new system While recommending that the current benchmark at Year 6 is phased out, the re- port calls for the considera- tion of a new system in which students undertake bench- mark assessments in three im- portant stages of their educa- tional journey, namely at the beginning of Year 3, during Year 6 and Year 8 (form 2). The report does not advo- cate the total abolition of ex- ams but is unclear whether a national standardized exam should remain or not. To ensure a seamless tran- sition to secondary level the report suggests that "it would make sounder educational sense to replace the bench- mark either with an informal college based or an informal national assessment, possibly including an exam". The report ultimately sug- gests that over a period of three years informal assess- ments should have an equal weighting in the assessment as exams. The new system of educa- tional benchmarking is to be in place by the second quarter of 2021. 2. Report suggests Maltese and English as "a foreign language" to migrant children An increasing number of mi- grant students are exempted from sitting for Maltese and/ or English exam/s "if they had not been studying the subject during the previous two years of Primary school in Malta" Form 1 migrant students participating in one of the 40 focus groups organised by the authors of the report, de- scribed the benchmark as 'a very big, big problem', which causes them much unneces- sary stress even if they insisted on being an opportunity to show their competencies as other students are. Such stu- dents face the "gross disadvan- tage of having all of a sudden to learn how to speak and un- derstand two new languages." One possible solution sug- gested in the report is that the Mathematics paper should be in the native language of mi- grant students. Offering these students a simplified course in Maltese or English thought as a "for- eign language" is also floated in the report, which warns that otherwise these students would drop out altogether from these assessments on ac- count of the language barrier. 3. The ban on calculators should be revised The use of calculators is banned in benchmark exams and at primary level in general only to be introduced in Form 1. But the report suggests that now that the use of the tablet as an educational tool is being phased in, "serious considera- tion" should be given to start training students in calculator skills at primary level. Therefore the report does not exclude the use of the tab- let in part of the Mathematics written paper that assesses problem-solving skills. Currently students are made to sit for a separate mental ex- am. But Mathematics teachers participating in a focus group questioned the utility of this exam, as this skill is discon- tinued altogether at second- ary level when students start using a calculator. Paper markers suggested that mental Mathematics should be grounded in every- day situations. 4. In maths, students should have a bilingual exam paper Students would perform bet- ter in Maths if a Maltese ver- sion of the paper is presented alongside the English version, with students being left free to answer any question either in Maltese or in English. The report proposes that this change in assessments should be introduced at the end of year 4 so that by the end of year 6 students would have become accustomed to a bilingual Mathematics paper. 5. Low ability students should have a simplified paper Forcing low ability students to sit for the same benchmark exam as other students only results in "humiliation, disap- pointment and frustration of faring poorly when compared with the rest of the cohort". The report warns that, this is impacting negatively on the self-esteem and motivation of these students; not least on their self-esteem and motiva- tion. Therefore the possibility of having the Benchmark exam papers "pitched at two levels should be seriously explored". 6. Listening comprehen- sions should be presented in a video clip Presently students are be- ing assessed on their listening 7 takeaways from report calling Calculators, bilingual papers and video clips