EXTERNAL exams for secondary schools started yesterday with 14,569 students sitting for the Fiji Junior Certificate.
Fourth-formers around the country were at exam centres yesterday for the first paper -- Basic Science.
Filipe Bole, responsible for the Education portfolio, called on teachers, parents and students to be prepared for the exams. He said the exam would decide the future of the scholars.
Suva student Kunal Kant said he was relieved the first paper was over and cannot wait for the exam to finish on November 12.
"We had extra classes on Saturdays and some of us studied late into the night but I guess it was needed for the exams. I am hoping for good marks" said Kunal.
Another 15-year-old sitting the exam, Mereani Waqa, said she was nervous and did not want to think about the first paper but to focus on the next paper.
Fourth-formers sat the FJC at 162 centres around the country.
The fourth-formers next year will be the last ones to sit for the FJC which will be abolished in 2011. A standard internal assessment method is now in place that will gauge the academic performance of students.
There will be no Fiji Intermediate Exam in 2010, with 2011 set as the year when the Fiji Eighth Year Examination is abolished.
The Fiji Seventh Form Exam starts on November 9 and finishes on November 20. A total of 4560 students at 98 centres are expected to sit their FSFE.
The third term will finish on December 4.
