Moalims

PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to extend universal primary examinations for class five students across the province and introduce assessments in two new subjects.

This was stated in a notification issued by the education department earlier this month.

The mode of assessment was initially introduced in 2014 as a pilot project in some districts – including Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera and Charsadda.

Universal primary exams would be prepared by an outside firm, which would bid for the project, and design, invigilate and then evaluate the tests – where the test was being administered. The firm would then release the results to the students and Directorate of Curriculum and Teachers Education. The initiative was undertaken to assess the learning curve of students and how well teachers are imparting their syllabi.

In the first phase, students were expected to take exams in four subjects – English, Urdu, mathematics and science. The initiative aimed to promote equity and equality in education and ensure students achieve learning outcomes appropriate to their grade.

However, the provincial government has now extended the assessment strategy to other parts of the province. The notification said, the number of subjects that students will be assessed on has been increased to six. Social studies and Islamiyat have been included.

All six exams will have multiple-choice questions.

“The examinations will be held from March 7 to March 12 2016,” stated the document.

“Result will be made available before March 31, 2016.”

As per the notification, the government manages over 28,000 government schools with over four million students enrolled from nursery to class 12.

“This also includes around 23,000 primary schools with an estimated 0.325 million class five students,” it added.

Dual purpose

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Director Rafiq Khattak said the aim of this project was to promote quality and equity in education.

“This will be done by providing fair and valid information about how well students are learning,” he said. “We also aim to enhance their skills and support education and professional development in the province.”

According to Khattak, these exams will serve the dual purpose of preparing students for future assessments and judging how effectively teachers are doing their job.

Mixed feelings

Speaking to The Express Tribune All Primary Teachers Association Provincial President Malik Khalid Khan lauded the initiative. However, he voiced his reservations over some aspects of the strategy.

“Last year, the government held this examination in selected schools of various districts,” he said. “However, teachers were not informed about final results.”

According to Malik Khalid, a large number of class five students took exams twice last year. He urged authorities to keep teachers in the loop regarding any changes and ensure they are aware of students’ performance in the exams. “They [schools] usually give exams held on an internal level every year and the universal primary exams,” he said.

However, the government will now scrap assessments on the internal level and introduce the universal primary exams instead.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2015.