NST mop-up to be organized for private schools – GNACOPS

The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) says mop-up arrangements have been made for private schools that could not participate in the 2022 National Standardised Test to sit for the national examination.

In a discussion with AcademicWeek.com, the Executive Director of the Private Schools Council, Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah said details of the impending National Standardised Test mop-up exercise will be communicated in due course.

“The NST is an initiative that is answering all the assessment issues the private schools have faced with some external assessment agencies, therefore private schools should embrace this lifelong opportunity for their students,” he said.

The forthcoming Standardised Test mop-up comes after Africa Education Watch called on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) to conduct another Test for schools that couldn’t participate in the main exams.

In a blog post sighted by AcademicWeek.com, EduWatch said its recommendation is influenced by a review of the 2022 Standardised Test on Zoom on December 18, 2022, with teachers and stakeholders in the education sector.

“On Sunday, December 18, 2022, Eduwatch held a rapid stakeholder review of the 2022 NST to discuss the successes and challenges as part of efforts to improve,” the Education think tank – Africa Education Watch stated in the post.

EduWatch added that “It emerged primarily, that the test scheduled for 9:00 am, ended up starting at 11:00 am, and in some cases, after 3:00 pm, leading to the exclusion of some learners from this important diagnostic exercise.”

“For instance, in Opah M/A Primary school in Ga West Municipal in the Greater Accra region, the test started as late as 3:30 pm resulting in learners being able to write only the English language paper

In that same district, learners at the Epiphany Anglican Basic school were unable to write both papers at all. Some learners in public and private schools were unable to participate in both subjects in the assessment,” it noted.

Less than 8% of private schools the Watch said participated in the Standardised Test for basic four pupils due to poor coordination adding that many private schools could not participate, even though made full payment to NaCCA.

“It is worth emphasising, that the participation of all Ghanaian basic school learners, whether public or private is critical to improving teaching, learning and learning outcomes in line with the SDG 4 targets.

We call on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to organise a mop-up exercise at the beginning of the next academic year, for private schools who paid but could not participate in the test, and public schools who could not write all papers,” it stated.