In early 2009, the Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE) announced, among other things, that the ministry will be working with schools to balance the use of written examinations with other forms of assessment for students.

Specifically, to help young students orientate in a formal school system, schools will do away with examinations for primary one and two children.

The changes are expected to take place in stages over the next 10 years.

Notorious for being hotbeds of stress for students, examinations have been the corner grinding stone of Singapore schools.

Educators, parents and students alike applaud this move, as it would mean younger students would have some time to enjoy learning experiences, as opposed to learning how to be “exam-smart” at age 7.

The practice of doing away with examinations, and focusing on education and learning instead, has been adopted elsewhere in the world.

Some countries prefer to offer written examinations as an option.

For example, in Wales, assessments at the end of key stages are no longer mandatory.  Similarly in Denmark, examinations for young students are not compulsory, but final examinations are offered for students in higher levels (grade 9 or 10).

Some countries are experimenting with focusing the assessment on the school instead of the student.

For example, in Hong Kong, in place of the Primary Six Academic Aptitude Test, competency assessments on students are performed across all schools to ascertain the minimal level of competency students must demonstrate.

The pressure to do away with examinations for young students is also growing.

In the UK, for example, the implementation of the national examinations (SATs) has recently come under intense criticism, and pressures to scrap the SATs, especially for younger children, have been repeatedly called.

While the number of countries that have scrapped examinations or are considering scrapping examinations have increased, several challenges surface as well.

The main challenge that policy-makers, educators, parents and students face, in removing examinations, is how students can continue to be effectively, and objectively, assessed.

Written examinations play a critical and objective role in assessing a student’s competency, and helps students learn a number of important skills, such as stress and time management. Educators may also adjust their teaching methods, based on the feedback from written examinations.

A related challenge is whether there are sufficient resources and suitable alternatives to adopt other assessment methods. Educators, for example, must be adequately competent to carry out qualitative assessments that are meaningful and constructive.

Assessing students cannot be viewed simplistically as a replacement exercise.
If, for example, a series of “mini-tests” replace examinations in assessing a student’s competency, such a replacement is not likely to make any major difference to a student.

Underlying the challenges of removing examinations for young students is a pessimistic view that the removal of examinations will not bring about dramatic changes to an environment that places heavy emphasis on examinations and results, a situation that is synonymous with the Singapore education system.

A case in point is South Korea. Although entrance examinations have been removed for most of the school levels, the entrance examination to the local universities has remained. As the result, the exam fever is still rife among many students, who spend a large part of their teen hood preparing to take this entrance examination.

Naysayers are understandably concerned about how young students would cope with the eventuality of sitting for examinations, in particular the PSLE. In their minds, abolishing examinations for primary ones and twos is simply a matter of delaying the inevitable.

The situation in Singapore looks somewhat rosier, as there appears to be a recognition that scrapping examinations alone is not sufficient to bring about a much-needed re-focus away from written examinations and results. For example, the introduction of the DSAE-Sec in 2004 reduces some, but certainly not all, of the emphasis placed on PSLE results, by placing some importance to non-academic achievements as a means to gain admission into schools of choice. The DSAE-Sec may just be another small step, but at least it is a step in the right direction.

The challenge ahead looks set to be arduous, but potentially rewarding in the long run.

i. http://www.ccea.org.uk/ Council for Curriculum Examinations and Assessment of Northern Ireland

ii. See http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeID=133&langno=1&UID=101724&print=yes

iii. See observation piece written by James  Card in 2005, regarding South Korea’s national obsession with entrance examinations into the top universities in South Korea. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN024489.pdf

Su-Ann Phillips