The Northwest Territories is changing the weighting of year-end exams for Grade 12 students for the current school year. They will count for 20% of the final grade, instead of 30%.
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Like Alberta, the Northwest Territories is changing the weighting of year-end exams for Grade 12 students for the current school year. They will count for 20% of the final grade, instead of 30%.
The measure, announced Wednesday by the territorial Department of Education, is intended to address disruptions in learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta, from which the territory draws its school program, announced the same measure in September.
For students retaking a diploma exam they took during the 2021-2022 school year, their exam mark will be worth 20% of their final mark this year.
The Ministry has also announced that it wants to trace a small number of students who took the diploma exams last November and will determine the best course of action on a case-by-case basis.
The weighting of diploma exams is expected to return to 30% in September 2023.
Equal opportunities
The principal of Yellowknife Sir John Franklin Secondary School, Dean MacInnis, says the government has made a wise decision in reviewing the weighting of final exams because many NWT graduates choose to attend a post-secondary institution in Alberta.
With [Alberta] making that decision months ago…it's going to level the playing field,” he said. If our students take their exams here, then the value of the final mark will be the same as there when they apply for admission.
The Northwest Territories is also in the process of transitioning to the British Columbia program.
NWT schools will begin testing the BC curriculum in 2023-24 for grades 4-6 and grade 9.
The 2024-2025 school year will be the last year that NWT graduates will write the Alberta year-end exams. The territory expects the transition to be complete by 2027.