Standardised Test not exams to promote students – MoE
The Ministry of Education (MoE) after some Ghanaians asked if primary school pupils who pass the National Standardised Test will be promoted has said the purpose of the national examination is not to promote students.
Speaking in a discussion monitored by AcademicWeek, Deputy Spokesman for the Education Ministry, Yaw Opoku Mensah said the national test rather aims to improve learning outcomes and reduce learning poverty among students.
In line with the deputy spokesperson, the Minister for Education, Dr Adutwum has said 90 per cent of basic school students after the end of the examination conducted by the West African Exams Council will be proficient in English.
“So after the conduct of the National Standardised Test by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), we expect over 90% of primary students in the country to be proficient in English,” the Education Minister noted.
Dr Osei Yaw Adutwum further said the examination to evaluate the primary students on whether they can read or not will also help the central government to see the challenges that are confronting the country’s education sector.
He indicated that the results of the standardised test in mathematics and literacy will be given to every single parent to monitor the progress of their wards. The results Mr Osei said will be available on a website for public access.
“We have a dashboard coming that will allow the Education Minister to log in and see the attendance of every district, to see how every district is doing and the results will be on the dashboard,” Mr Yaw Adutwum said in an interview.
In a related development, the Ministry of Education has approved for students in private schools across the country to participate in the 2022 National Standardised Test slated to be administered in November/December this year.
The Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), Enoch Gyetuah speaking to AcademicWeek said a technical working group have been instituted to oversee the smooth implementation of the 2022 Test.
“Pursuant to the implementation of NST in all schools, MoE through NaCCA on September 14, 2022, instituted a Technical Working Group (TWG) to oversee the smooth implementation of 2022 NST for Basic 2 and Basic 4 pupils across the country
The composition of this TWG is industrial players being selected from Private Education Sector Associations, Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, National Schools Inspectorate Authority, West Africa Examination Council and National Council for Curriculum and Assessment,” the GNACOPS Director, Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah stated.
