British Columbia is dropping optional Grade 12 provincial exams and changing its provincial scholarship program so that more students will be eligible.
The announcement was made this morning at a private meeting of B.C. school superintendents in Kelowna.
Optional exams are being discontinued because few students write them now that universities and other post-secondary schools no longer base admission decisions on marks from provincial exams.
The B.C. Education Ministry says about 80 per cent of Grade 12 students chose not to write the optional exams last year and that’s reduced eligibility for provincial scholarships, which have continued to be based on provincial exam results. An estimated $2.5 million in scholarships has not been claimed as a result.
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