Ministry of Education officials yesterday said its long-awaited Basic Competency Tests, which were designed to begin the process of eliminating the competitive senior high school entrance examinations, will see their inaugural sittings in March 2001.
The test will be held twice a year, with the second sitting scheduled for May 2001, according to Su Teh-hsiang (
Su said students can opt to take the tests in either March or May, or they can also take both of them and pick the one with better results to represent their score.
Su said other details concerning the tests will be made public by the end of next month, after all other preparatory work is completed.
The tests are part of reforms carried out by the ministry as an alternative to the current examination system, in an effort to relieve the great stress exams have on junior high school students.
Although students are already eligible for admission to senior high schools based on recommendation and application procedures, these methods are usually suitable only for students with exceptionally strong academic records.
Most students, meanwhile, still need to go through the entrance examination process.
In 1998, the ministry announced that the senior high school entrance examinations will be abolished after it is held for the very last time in July 2000.
Starting with the 2000 academic year (which starts in September 2000 and lasts through to June 2001), junior high school students can take the Basic Competency Tests to obtain qualifications to enter senior high schools.
The tests will also be applicable for junior high graduates seeking to enter vocational schools and five-year junior colleges. At present, junior high school graduates intending to enter senior high schools, vocational schools and five-year junior colleges need to take separate examinations.
Five subjects will be tested in the Basic Competency Tests, namely Chinese, English, mathematics, natural sciences and social science. Officials said these tests will be multiple-choice questions focusing on the knowledge that students are supposed to acquire in junior high schools.
The tests have been developed with an intention to correct the defects of the joint entrance examinations, which have been criticized by education reformists as focusing too much on fragmentary knowledge and causing students to spend much of their time in cram schools just to prepare for the entrance exams.
RSS