End the culture of learning for the test

Hong Kong's education has long been characterised by teaching to the test. From kindergarten up, students face a relentless regime of termly exams, punctuated by mid-term and other tests. The pressure culminates in public exams at the end of Forms Five and Seven, the Hong Kong Certificate of Education and Advanced Level examinations.

But now this exam regime itself is being tested. Last week, the Strategic Review of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) was released, calling for an overhaul of its funding, structure and role, as well as public debate on the very purpose of exams.

Education reforms have made important structural changes, in particular the abolition of the Academic Aptitude Test that used to determine admission to secondary schools. That has helped reduce pressure on students. Curriculum reform has also been championed. But there has in fact been little change in the diet of examinations, both school and public. HKCEEs and A-levels have not kept up with international trends in incorporating more course work or widening their scope to include vocational qualifications. The report has instead found that exams undermine the aims of reforms that strive to make schooling about learning to learn for life, rather than regurgitating information merely to pass exams.

Progressive educators insist that assessment should support learning - as feedback to help both the student and teacher - rather than form a summative conclusion of a child's performance. But too often Hong Kong students do not receive feedback from school exams. All that matters are bald grades. This is where the culture really needs to change.

The Basic Competency Assessment, low-stake tests being introduced from this year that measure competencies in Chinese, English and mathematics in Primary Three and Six and Form Three for the purpose of feedback, may help, but only if they replace some existing school exams.

Public exams can be reformed to reflect a more creative learning process. But ultimately, they will always have a summative purpose that should distinguish them from school assessment, being the gateway to higher levels of education. As such, they inevitably involve pressure and intensive study.