Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1138429
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 JULY 2019 7 ANALYSIS comprehension skills in Mal- tese and English on the basis of an audio recording which some find difficult to com- prehend. The report now suggests that students should be pre- sented with a video clip in Maltese and English should be presented as a video clip. "This should help students to understand better the text by presenting it in a context". One problem faced by stu- dents is their familiarity with the pronunciation used by au- dio recordings. The report suggests that sample video clips in Maltese and in English featuring the same persons who will ap- pear in the actual video clip employed in the exam should be available for use in class so that students will have time to familiarise themselves with the pronunciation. 7. Students exempted from benchmarks should still be assessed In 2017 of the 809 applicants 101 were exempted from the exams entirely, while about 470 were granted some sort of alternative arrangement. The report recommends that students who are exempted from taking the benchmark in whole or in part should nev- ertheless move to form 1 with a profile outlining the compe- tencies achieved so far. One of the problems high- lighted in the report is that students who for one reason or another are exempted from sitting for the benchmark are not being assessed. It was also pointed out in the feedback to the report that that these students, some of which hailing from difficult social backgrounds, have every right like all other students to be assessed at this juncture in their educational journey, not least for them to know what they have achieved so far. calling for reform of exam system The report suggests that "serious consideration" should be given to start training students in calculator skills at primary level