The junior lyceum entrance examination... and after

The 2003 edition of the Junior Lyceum Entrance Examination into Form 1 was a great success. As has become the tradition, these examinations were once more professionally administered and hence everything ran smoothly.

Out of 6,078 eligible students, 4,503 chose to sit for this examination. Interesting, and perhaps worrying, is that 467 eligible students in Government primary schools (11.6%) did not take the examination and therefore lost their chance of entering a junior lyceum. Is it possible that at such a tender age this examination is perceived by the students themselves (and/or by others) to be beyond their capabilities? Have these children already given up and settled for what may be considered to be the bare minimum?

Students who opted to sit for these examinations received the results at home on June 26. The following day, the results were put up in schools. Only index numbers were given on the results; other identification details were excluded. Unsatisfied candidates who wished to revise the examination scripts had the opportunity to do so during July and early August.

The Educational Assessment Unit has clear indications that the public regards this examination as highly reliable. The fact that this year there were 283 who asked for the revision of 378 examination scripts (involving mostly English and Maths), is definitely not a vote of no confidence in the system. It is rather an attempt by parents to learn more about the academic weaknesses of their children and to help them overcome them. The revision of scripts is a very effective exercise in formative assessment; helping children, parents, and at times teachers to identify what went wrong and what can be done to improve future performance.

The Annual Report of the Junior Lyceum Entrance Examination will soon be published. It will show that 55.2% of the candidates (2,486 out of 4,503) were successful, that is, that they succeeded in obtaining at least grade C in Maltese, English, Mathematics, Social Studies and Religion. These students now have the opportunity of attending a five-year course in a junior lyceum where they will receive a sound education in all aspects of their development, be it physical, social, emotional, moral and/or academic. This five-year course, it is hoped, will prove to be challenging enough to all students, including the 124 who obtained five As in the examination and who might choose to attend a junior lyceum rather than a Church or, maybe, a private/independent school.

Those students who failed the junior lyceum examination and who were born in 1991 will have to go to a secondary school this September. However, they will be eligible to sit for the junior lyceum examinations into Form 2 in June 2004. These examinations have become very popular indeed. Last year there were 425 applicants, 163 of whom were successful. This year there were 500 applicants, 206 of whom (41.2%) were successful and therefore may now continue their education in a junior lyceum.

Students who failed the JL examination and who were born in 1992 must reflect seriously on what they intend to do this September. In fact they can go to a secondary school and take the JL entrance examination into Form 1 again next year (May 10-14). They will also be able to sit for the JL entrance examination into Form 2 in June 2004. However, they may also opt to stay on in primary school in the Year 7 class.

Some students are successful in their second attempt after having received that little extra help in a particular subject, usually in English or in Mathematics. Such cases (which amount to more than half the number of applicants) may help open the eyes of educators to the fact that a number of students do get there, but in their own time and therefore at a slower pace than other students.

Perhaps one should reflect on the curriculum being offered to Year 7 students, as well as on the pedagogy adopted. The curriculum should contain enough ingredients to raise the students' self-esteem which, very often, is shaken when the child learns that he or she has failed to enter a junior lyceum. Moreover, students should not be led to think that they are repeating Year 6, because this would lead to a sense of tediousness and frustration.

Hence teachers need to attempt to change their method of teaching. They need to make an effort at saying the same thing in a different way. Parents and teachers have to find and to exploit those methods which prove effective in the transformation of teaching into learning. Everyone has to respect the fact that the National Minimum Curriculum emphasises child-centred education, which implies taking into serious consideration the individual, with his or her particular combination of strengths and weaknesses.

A serious and common weakness in our students is definitely English, with 1,111 students obtaining a D grade, and 664 only managing to obtain an E. Parents must understand that their children must read more if they want them to be able to express themselves in good English. They need to create a culture of reading within the home. Children will not read unless this proves to be an enjoyable experience. The reading material ought to be appropriate to the child's capabilities, maturity, likes and dislikes.

Perhaps we need to focus even more than we are doing now on the students' needs regarding English, and to encourage them as much as possible to speak the language. Hence the need for more conversation in class, as well as the use of English during drama and other school activities.

Children who do not practise the language at home need to do so at school for longer periods. We will not be successful unless we are prepared and determined to make sacrifices. It is important that English becomes part and parcel of our students' daily experiences, which moreover, have to be stimulating and enjoyable. Parents and all educators should carefully study the chief examiner's comments published in the JL Annual Report. Extracts of this report will also be made available on the EAU Website (www.curriculum.qov.mt/eau).

I believe that the standard of English will be raised if children are encouraged to read, to listen to the spoken language, and to express themselves in English every day. Children will pick up new words and learn how to use them, both when writing and when speaking the language. As a nation we have to understand that English is our passport to the world of knowledge and to the outside world. Without it we become more insular and limited in every sense of the word.

Over 44% of the students were unsuccessful in the JL entrance examination into Form 1. Focusing on state primary school children, one realises that 1,715 were unsuccessful. Adding to this the 467 students who did not sit for the examination, one is presented with a total of 2,182 students. It is perhaps rather disturbing to realise that 54% (2,182 out of 4,040 state primary school children eligible to sit for the JL) are directly or indirectly getting stuck in the sieve of the JL entrance examination.

Most of these students will be attending a secondary school. There is a general assumption that these students, although only 11 years old, are already a failure. Receiving an F result may prove to be extremely traumatic to a number of students.

Moreover, there is an impression that students attending secondary schools are not academically oriented, that they lack motivation and have no high hopes for their future. This may be true in some cases, and it is therefore our duty to help remedy the situation together. As indicated above, we have to help the children increase their self-esteem. This will not increase unless the students experience small daily successes.

I strongly believe that one should combat the idea that all or most of the students attending secondary schools are not capable of learning because they are very weak. Evidence proves the falsehood of this statement. It is a fact that in this year's JL entrance examination, over 200 students passed in English and over 500 passed in Mathematics without, however, succeeding in entering a junior lyceum. There were in fact 569 students who failed in just one subject.

It is our duty to nourish and to stimulate these students who m some cases, and in particular subjects, may have done even better than a number of students who made it to the JL. I feel that the worst thing we can do is to give up on these students. If we do not challenge them enough they will lower their expectations, become apathetic and lazy. On the other hand, we should be realistic and should not expect from the children that which they are incapable of giving.

Whichever type of school our children will be attending, whether it is Year 7, a secondary school or a junior lyceum, it is our duty to commit ourselves to the development of their potential for their own good and for the good of our nation. We have to make sure that all students receive the education to which they are entitled and which they deserve, and hence develop into self-fulfilled and well-adjusted young adults, capable of being fruitful members of the community.

Mr Grech is education officer at the Educational Assessment Unit.