Can we claim the quality of a student by his /her achievement in SLC?

1. Can we claim the quality of a student by his /her achievement in SLC? Nilkantha Bhusal EDUC 513/613 Issues/ Research Seminar in Education Fall 2010(August-December, 2010) Nlkantha Bhusal

2. Presentation overview • Delimitation • The myth of SLC • Characteristics of good examination system • Characteristics of public examinations • Validity of SLC • An interview with a principal • SLC concern of high stake-holders • Marking of theoretical and practical test • Recommendations for marking in SLC for the quality improvement NilKanthaBhusal

3. Delimitation • To measure the quality of a student by his/her achievement in SLC is a rather challenging task. The term quality itself is rather ambiguous term. My discussion will be within the scope of test item moderation and evaluation; government’s reluctance for the improvement and concern of stake-holders. NilKanthaBhusal

4. SLC as an “Iron Gate”(?) • The SLC has remained the almost exclusive goal for parents, students, teachers, and schools alike. There goes a mad race to achieve high pass rates in SLC in schools, especially schools operating in the private sector. NilKanthaBhusal

5. Characteristics of good examination system • Fitness for purpose: The exam papers and marking system should produce scores that are both reliable and valid. • Equity, integrity and public confidence • Efficiency and cost-effectiveness • Transparency • Beneficial effect on classroom practice(www.worldbank.exam) NilKanthaBhusal

6. Negative effects of public examinations • Public examinations give rise to a phenomenon of ‘teaching to the test’ or ‘selective teaching,’ what is often known as the ‘backwash’ effects of examinations. Public examinations signal what is important and what is not important, what should be taught and what should not be taught, what should be done in classrooms and what should not be done, and what should be learned and what should not be learned. NilKanthaBhusal

7. Public examination contd… • Focus on lower –order cognitive skills than higher-order cognitive skills. • Too academic and too contents oriented. • They do not test the knowledge and skills that are relevant to life outside the school. Examinations thus produce people who may have ‘facts’ but not know lack how to conduct life in real life situations. • Public examinations promote malpractices and cheating(Kellaghan and Greaney ,2004) . NilKanthaBhusal

8. Public examination contd.. • Public examinations also induce psychological and behavioral problems. The anxiety of preparing for tough examinations and the disappointment of doing poorly often leads to numerous incidents of pathological behavior. NilKanthaBhusal

9. Validity of SLC • Less standardized nor can it assess the capacity of our children. The education experts, for the past three decades, have been asking the government to review and revise the SLC examinations; the government is running the same old mechanism that will still be running in the same way for several decades more. NilKanthaBhusal

10. Validity and reliability of SLC • Whatever percentage pass the SLC examination will carry no meaning at all. Similarly, it would carry very little meaning whether the students achieve distinction marks or third division marks. This is the major defect of our SLC examinations system (Wagley,The Himalayan Times). NilKanthaBhusal

11. An interview with Dr. Mukesh Chalise NilKanthaBhusal

12. Labeling as “Broiler Kukhura” and “Local Kukhura” • Private schools’ students are supposed to be “Broiler Kukhura”,where as public schools’ students are supposed to be “Local Kukhura.” • Private schools’ students are labeled as spoon-feeders and less creative where as public schools’ students though there is comparatively poor marks in SLC but amazingly successful in career orientation. NilKanthaBhusal

13. What is the validity of the SLC exam? • Massive cheating takes place without any interference, while in other places cheating does not exist at all. It is said that in most part of terai districts answers are broadcasted in mike hanging on the top of bamboo tree around the SLC center. In this anarchic situation, how can we rate the quality? NilKanthaBhusal

14. Parrot-learning system • SLC, in its present form, is not an effective guarantee of educational quality. The type of questions used places a heavy emphasis on recall, on filling students’ minds with information. There is an almost total absence of teaching/assessment of skills and abilities that can be assessed by an examination paper such as the ability to plan and implement a project or investigation, or to engage in some form of practical work. NilKanthaBhusal

15. Flaws in moderating and marking • Currently, the selection of test developers, moderators, and examiners in OCE is done rather indiscriminately. Test papers have multiple flaws and marks given are not consistent. Often guidelines for selecting and using the testing personnel are not sincerely followed due to the massive amount of job to be done within a short period of time. It is wrong to assume that any school teacher can function as a test expert. NilKanthaBhusal

16. Flaws in moderation of test items • Contents analysis of the test papers revealed a number of defects in the items: vagueness, repetition, poor formulation, ambiguity, lack of clarity, etc. What is most disturbing is the excessive use of tests that only measure rote memorization and the mastery of subject matter. Analysis of test papers used in SLC in six core subjects suggests that the test items, for the most part, are designed to test the acquisition of lower-order abilities than higher-order abilities. NilKanthaBhusal

17. Conference marking – a physical gathering • Conference marking was a major step adopted by OCE towards ensuring consistency in marking. Conference marking is no more than a physical gathering of examiners where examiners work in isolation rather than in group. There is little evidence of the head examiners providing necessary supervision and monitoring to the examiners. There is a need to strengthen the existing conference marking system. NilKanthaBhusal

18. Flaws in Marking and Scrutiny of Answer books • The subjectivity of examiners have made the considerable differences in marking. • Conference marking is not reliable. • There is no inter-rating checking system. NilKanthaBhusal

19. Marking of practical test • Practical marks are awarded by the concerned subject teachers by their students' face value rather than their actual performance. • Practical test in English subject conducted by OCE itself suggests that this test is only limited in formality for the test are conducted by non-English teachers in different centers. NilKanthaBhusal

20. Not only private, public schools are also in the mad race • Pass rates are important measures to both public and private schools. Public schools need high pass rates to maintain the minimum pass rate to be able to avoid penalty. On the other hand, private schools need high pass rates to maintain or further increase their enrollment by impressing parents who often choose schools on the basis of pass rates. NilKanthaBhusal

21. SLC is losing public faith • Public faith in the SLC examinations seems to be eroding. Inefficiency, corruption, misappropriation of funds, poor administration of SLC examinations, increasing incidence of cheating and malpractices, poor quality of test papers, use of test papers that only measure lower-order knowledge, poor phrasing of questions, inconsistent marking of Answer books, lack of public accountability, etc. CIAA had decided to investigate malpractices taking place within the OCE. NilKanthaBhusal

22. The fever of SLC • Schools do not engage their students in co-curricular and extracurricular activities. Activities related to arts, literature, creative work receive less attention. Thus, the SLC has a damaging effect on the quality of education. NilKanthaBhusal

23. Recommendations for marking in SLC for the quality improvement • Use chartered examiners for test development, moderation, and marking. Those demonstrating a high standard of consistency in this work should be accredited as chartered examiners. It should be recognized that setting test items that test higher skills calls for special expertise on the part of test setters as well as markers. • Pay reasonable remuneration for the subject expert. NilKanthaBhusal

24. References • Mathema, K.B.& Bista, M.B.(July 2005).Study on Student Performance in SLC: Introduction to the Study and its findings and recommendations.Ministry of Education and Sports Education Sector Advisory Team :Kathmandu • Wagley, M.P. The Himalayan Times, June 21, 2005. • Kellaghan,P.& Greaney,S.(2004) Retrieved from www.worldbank.exam NilKanthaBhusal