Fewer provincial exams

Photo: Contributed

High school students will be required to write only two provincial exams instead of five before they graduate as part of a new curriculum being rolled out in British Columbia.

Education Minister Mike Bernier says math and literacy will be the only skills to be formally tested starting in the next school year.

Teachers will assess Grade 10 science and language arts and Grade 11 social studies in the classroom instead of through provincial exams.

Bernier says that between June and October, parents will be consulted on how they wish to be informed about their child's progress other than every few months through a report card.

He says students will also be required to take career education to graduate starting in the 2017-18 school year.

Some parents have criticized the new curriculum, saying students need more foundational math skills, for example, but Bernier says the focus will remain on the basics of reading, writing and math.