Scholars said yesterday that they are less-than-impressed with the Ministry of Education's announcement to revise regulations governing high school students' grading and graduation.
The newly amended "High School Students Grade Inspection Measures" (
Such a measure appears to favor diligent and intelligent students because they can graduate earlier if they finish the minimum required credits ahead of time.
The method also gives students who fail any course a choice to either sit make-up examinations or or to take courses a second time.
If students fail the make-up exams a second time or fail to attain one third of the total credits possible every semester, they are either not promoted to the next grade, required to take the courses again or to transfer.
The measures also set guidelines for moral education courses, such as ethics classes, which are classified into four ranks -- A, B, C and D. Students who receive a D grade for the course will be asked to transfer to another school. In the past, moral education courses used the simpler pass or fail system.
Yu Min-ning (
"Because of the 160 credit floor, it's rather hard for students to finish three years' courses in say two or two-and-a-half years," Yu said. "Even if the students manage to do so and graduate, since the current admission time is usually in fall, what do you expect the students to do if they finish school in spring?" he asked.
And with no classes offered during the summer and winter vacations, students will have little chance to graduate earlier.
"If we want to implement the measures, a change of school admission scheduling is key," he said. "Also the barrier of the Joint University Entrance Exam has to be removed."
Chu Ching-hsien (
"I don't think the system makes much sense unless the college entrance exam is revoked," Chu said. "Let's face it, students do have to worry about the entrance exam and they do have to study, review, and remember the books. The new approach, however, literally encourages students to forget about everything they've learned as soon as they get their credits."
Chu said the measure is better-suited for college education.
"College education is a professional education program, but we're talking about high school students who are receiving fundamental education courses," Chu said.
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