This year saw the end of the controversial Common Entrance Examination (CE), which first came into existence when the Church schools' issue was at the forefront of Maltese politics.
In the late 1970s, each boys' Church school still held exams in order for students to graduate to the next grade in the same school. This resulted in the same students taking a multitude of exams often based on different syllabuses, and the inevitable disruption of primary education for many students as students migrated from one school to another at different points during their primary school course.
In 1978, after many discussions within the Malta Private Schools Association, the colleges of De La Salle, St Albert the Great, Stella Maris, Mount Carmel and St Augustine joined to offer one exam for entrance into Form 1 in their schools.
But examination results were not the only criterion for entry: successful candidates were accepted on a first-come, first-accepted policy, and the head of each school retained the right to accept or refuse any successful candidate.
The following year, St Paul's Missionary College joined the CE and the criteria for entry were revised to include only the result obtained and parental choice. Successful candidates were assigned to the school of their preference as indicated on the application form, places permitting. This system, which remained in existence until 1989, had several drawbacks. Firstly, schools continued to hold their own particular entrance examinations in the grades before Form 1.
Also, places made available by most schools were limited and, as successful candidates, irrespective of their ranking, were given their first school of preference, few places would remain for other successful candidates who had ranked high but had chosen another school as their first preference.
The Church schools' agreement between Malta and the Holy See, signed in 1991, brought to a close the Church schools dispute, and it also gave a new impetus to the CE. The CE continued to be viewed as a non-discriminatory means of enrolling students into Church schools.
Article 4 of the agreement stipulated that the Church should continue the process of re-organising its schools so they would have complete cycles of primary and/or secondary education.
As a result of this process, the previous situation of multiple entry points in order to secure a place at one's secondary school of preference was eliminated. This change brought about an increase of places available at Form 1 level and an increase in the number of boys sitting for the CE.
In January 1985, representatives from Church schools and the Education Department met to formulate identical syllabuses in Maltese, mathematics and English for the entrance examinations into Form 1. Since then, the CE and Junior Lyceum examinations have been based on identical syllabuses and exam subjects.
So when, in 1988, the Education Department decided to introduce exams in social studies and religion as part of the Junior Lyceum examination, the CE board followed suit.
In 1990, the CE examination board re-organised the way parents expressed their choice of school. Instead of indicating their preferences on the application form before the exam, parents were invited to make their choice of school known after the results had been published.
The schools which participated in the 1990 CE exam were St Paul's Missionary College, St Elias College, Savio College, St Albert the Great College and the Sacred Heart Minor Seminary - Gozo.
The Minor Seminary - Malta joined the CE exam in 1991 while St Aloysius' College and St Augustine College joined in 1993. St Michael School joined in 1997 and the Gozo Bishop's Conservatory School for girls joined in 2002.
In 2008, St Aloysius assumed administrative responsibility for Stella Maris primary school, Balzan and thus, from 2009, its intake into Form 1 came primarily from this school.
Exemption from the Maltese exam was first granted in 1994, while the 1995 regulations included exemptions from social studies and religion.
In 1994, arrangements were provided for candidates with dyslexia. The Junior Lyceum exam introduced these in 1996. The following year, this provision was extended to include all those with certified educational needs.
The access arrangements most commonly granted in the CE exam have been: extra time; the provision of a reader; prompter and transcriber.
From 1998, arrangements were made so Jewish children would not have to sit for any examinations on the Sabbath.
In 1994, St Augustine, St Aloysius, St Elias and Savio College offered a number of places under the Grave Humanitarian Cases scheme. Candidates accepted as Grave Humanitarian Cases were exempt from the exams and were awarded a place into one of the schools.
In 1996, it was decided that all schools participating in the CE should accept students under this scheme. The decisions to offer access arrangements and the Grave Humanitarian Scheme introduced elements of inclusion in an otherwise academically-oriented setting.
Throughout 2006 and 2007 the CE board participated actively in the review of the transition from the primary to secondary levels of education. This review included also an analysis of the exam papers and all the procedures of the CE and these were found to be of the required standard and valid to their purpose.
After further discussions with education and Church authorities the CE board agreed to eliminate the system as well as that of the Junior Lyceum so more children would continue their studies successfully and to relieve children, families and teachers of the stress of these exams and selection processes.
The CE gave parents the opportunity to choose their children's school and monitor the whole exam process. The collaboration shown in taking the decision to reform the transition from primary to secondary education can only augur well for the future of education in our country.