11% of Hong Kong public junior schools vow to scrap exams, tests for Primary One pupils
Move follows call from education authorities for shake-up in how schools assess students to improve children’s mental health
Around 11 per cent of Hong Kong’s public junior schools have scrapped exams and tests for Primary One pupils for this academic year amid appeals from education authorities to cut down on assessments to help improve students’ mental health.
Fifty of the 453 government and aided primary schools profiled in reports published by the Committee on Home-School Cooperation on Monday have pledged they will not hold any such assessments for Primary One students. It is the first time the body has included the data in its documents.
But Paul Wong Wai-ching, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the measure was just “a small piece of the puzzle” when it came to refining the education system to reduce the pressure on pupils.
“Cancelling tests and exams may not guarantee immediate improvements in students’ mental health or their attitude towards studying,” he said.
“It requires an ecological shift of the mindset [towards academic performance], which cannot be achieved by just one or two initiatives.”
The Education Bureau suggested in the “Primary Education Curriculum Guides” in 2002 that schools replace tests and examinations with diversified assessments in the first term of Primary One classes.