Centralized exam for fifth graders on cards

PESHAWAR, Dec 29: The elementary and secondary education department has decided to conduct centralised examinations for grade five in the government schools to assess the students and teachers properly, according to officials. They said that centralised examinations for grade five would be conducted from the next annual examinations scheduled to be commenced in March. Mostly, the papers would consist of multiple choice questions (MCQs) and a little room would be spared for the long question, they said. Officials said that initially four subjects -English, Urdu, mathematic and general science -were selected by the education department for the centralised examinations. The Provincial Education Assessment Centre (PEACE), established at the Directorate of Curricula and Teachers Education would set question papersfor the students across the province, they said. Officials said that the papers, attempted by the fifth graders of a district under the centralised examinations, would be checked by the teachers of the neighbouring district for the first time. The results would be sent to PEACE for assessment of the students and their teachers, they added. `Currently, the headmasters of the middle and high schools are responsible to conduct the examinations for grade five students of the primary schools located near to their schools, a district education officer told Dawn. He added that the teachers often complained that the evaluation process of the grade five students was not properly carried out. In the centralised examination system, officials said, the students would be promoted to the next grade purely on merit. In the new examination system, the PEACE would also conduct the assessment of the students learning outcome. The assessment would help to detect problems being faced by the students and teachers and their shortcomings related to their course, they said. The policymakers could devise proper mechanism for removal of the shortcomings, detected through theassessment, they said.–Dawn]]>