THE Education Ministry has stressed scaling has been part of the education system for the past 20 years ever since the Fiji School Leaving Certificate and Fiji Seventh Form Examination were introduced.
Permanent secretary Doctor Brij Lal said the ministry's scaling system was based on sound educational assessment principles used universally in ranking students for selection into tertiary education, for scholarships and the like.
Students are given choices in optional subjects to study and they are examined on the subject during the external examinations.
A ministry statement said with this choice came the issue of comparability of subjects, where some could be advantaged or disadvantaged by taking the so-called "easier" or "harder" subjects.
"Scaling is a process which adjusts the results students achieve in their various subjects into a common scale so that students can compete on a fair basis for awards and scholarships," it said.