UniFiji supports reintroduction of scaling in national examinations

The University of Fiji has voiced its support for the government’s decision to reintroduce the scaling of marks in national examination from 2026, as long as it promotes fairness, consistency,and comparability in student assessment outcomes.

The University believes that, when applied transparently and scientifically, scaling enhances the credibility of national examinations and ensures that all students, regardless of their school location or resources, are assessed on a common and equitable basis.

University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Shaista Shameem says that while the topic of scaling in education remains complex and often debated, it is important to approach it with both academic integrity and compassion for students’ diverse learning abilities.

Professor Shameem says that she has personally opposed scaling as a learning methodology because she feels it merely hides the fact that there are no universally agreed concepts of academic success and failure.

She does not believe that there is such a thing as “failure,” especially when it comes to young minds.

The Vice-Chancellor emphasised that everyone is worthwhile and supported responsible choices in learning.

She explained that her academic staff convinced her that UniFiji should support the Education Ministry's scaling policy, provided it is carried out with checks and balances and guided by the University’s own recommendations. Associate Professor and Head of the Science Department in the School of Science and Technology, Dr. Ramendra Prasad explained that scaling is a statistical process used to transform raw marks from different examinations or subjects onto a common metric.

Dr. Prasad says that scaling is not about inflating or reducing marks; it compensates for inherent differences in exam difficulty, teacher instruction, and marking approaches, ensuring that all student performances are assessed fairly across subjects, schools and years.

Dr. Prasad also highlighted that transparency and consistency are essential to maintaining public confidence in the system.

He stressed that student rankings must remain intact, where high achievers should not be penalised, and low achievers should not be unduly advantaged.

He says a zero should remain zero, and a perfect score should remain perfect.

The University further noted that scaling supports Fiji’s long-term educational goals by encouraging students to take up challenging subjects such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), computer studies and commerce for national development and economic competitiveness.