Junior Lyceum exams to be held after all

The Education Ministry yesterday ended weeks of uncertainty for students when it confirmed that the Junior Lyceum exams will be held just the same this year.

A ministry spokesman said details of the dates for the Junior Lyceum exams would be announced on Monday. Unlike previous years, no applications for the exams were issued in November. The exams are normally held in May.

However, with barely two months away from exam day, students were still in the dark on whether they would be tested in five subjects or indeed whether the exams were to be held at all.

The ministry had told The Times it was evaluating all the feedback it received on its consultation document dealing with the transition between primary school and secondary before taking a decision on the exams. The Junior Lyceum and common entrance exams feature prominently in the government's education reform.

The idea is to do away with both and, in the case of the Junior Lyceum exams, replace them with forms of assessment that do not lead to streaming in secondary schools.