Aptitude tests for primary school pupils will be scrapped but their abolition will take time, the head of the Education Commission said yesterday. 'It is hard to say when the test will be abolished, but we are fully aware of the public's negative opinion concerning this issue,' commission chairman Antony Leung Kam-chung said. 'The banding and allocation systems [determining which schools pupils attend] also attract public discontent, and we know it is urgent to remedy matters, but reform takes time,' he said. Aptitude tests have been carried out for 21 years. Every Primary Six pupil aged 12 must take them. The tests are designed to evaluate logical thinking and verbal ability, but educationists complain that the system makes schools devote too much class time to preparing for the exams. Mr Leung, speaking after meeting legislators and educationists, also spoke of the need to change the university admission system. He said he was glad certain universities had made statements about possible future changes. 'We have to consider education reform as a whole because different stages of education are interdependent,' said Mr Leung. Recalling his recent visit to Harvard University, he said it was important that frontline educationists had access to the Internet. 'The Internet and e-mail are vital in the educational field, not only in teaching, but also in discussion concerning the education system,' he said.