Executive Director of the Institute for Educational Studies (IFEST), Peter Partey Anti, has questioned the motive of the Ministry of Education to
Executive Director of the Institute for Educational Studies (IFEST), Peter Partey Anti, has questioned the motive of the Ministry of Education to slate the National Standardised Test for Primary Four pupils in public basic schools on Friday, December 17, 2021.
Mr Anti is of the view that the exercise is being rushed.
Minister of Education Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, had disclosed at a press briefing in Accra that the test was to improve on teaching and learning in public basic schools and not to grade the pupils.
“It will help us identify what the learning gaps are that need to be addressed and analyse variations in learner achievement by region, gender, location and school type,” he added.
Primary four pupils are expected to take exams in English and Mathematics.
But reacting to the development in an interview on 3FM. Mr Partey Anti said : “They gave themselves 6months. The minister announced this second week in June. Up till November when we said we would write the exam there was nothing to show.
“My information from inside the Ghana Education Service suggests that the ministry itself is ill-prepared to conduct this exam. It’s just that there’s a lot of pressure on them and the finance minister indicated that this will be shifted to December; and so they need to do something to represent something.”
He averred the need for the Ministry to stop the implementation in order to obtain the right outcome after the right structures have been put in place.
“From the policy perspective, I’m saying that you don’t need to do something to represent something because the exams is very key to the evaluation of the standard based curriculum. It’s very key for policy implementation and introduction into the British school system. And therefore if you just do it anyhow the result will not be the correct reflection of how our students in basic four are faring.
“We will not be able to get the good outcome that we are expecting for this particular exam. It is in our interest for us to take our time, put in the structures and the measures.“
“Most of the teachers were just planning to vacate on the 10th. The students are ill-prepared. They are not so much psychologically in the state to write this kind of exam at this time. Because you’re extending their vacation by 7 days which should not be the case. These children have been in school for almost 23 weeks,” he concluded.
COMMENTS