174 govt schools in K-P to be served notices over poor performance

K-P minister notes vast improvement in catching cheaters

PESHAWAR: Dismayed over their poor performance in the recently concluded Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Education Minister Atif Khan has said show causes will be served to 174 government schools in the province.

The schools were picked out of the 2,838 government schools in the province based on the results they returned in the SSC examinations. Atif added that the school’s teachers and administration would be asked to explain why their students fared poorly.

Chairing a high-level meeting of representatives from all the boards in the province, the minister advised them to continue focusing on imparting quality education while improving the learning outcomes of students.

During the meeting, a review of the overall results of matric exams conducted by all the boards was presented. Atif commended the boards for taking measures to discourage cheating and introducing a machine-based paper checking system, called Optical Mark Recognition (OMR). OMR, Atif said, had significantly improved transparency in paper checking by eliminating human involvement.

“Our government is committed to developing 21st-century skills in our youth. To do this, we must move away from testing rote memory. We must modernise our system of assessment so that we are able to succeed in developing a knowledge economy,” he said.

In this regard, the minister said that they must teach and assess conceptual learning of students as they apply their knowledge and skills. The minister instructed directorate of education for quick action against the schools with poor performance in exams.

Preventing cheating

“Conduct of the tests have also improved to discourage cheating,” he noted with the ratio of invigilation improved from one invigilator per 40 students to an invigilator per 25 students.

Furthermore, invigilation duties were assigned through a computerised system for greater transparency. Additionally, CCTV cameras had been installed in most of the examination halls. These stricter measurements meant the number of children caught cheating increased 10 times. Further, the question papers were shuffled to prevent cheating.

The descriptive questions have also been improved in several science subjects to improve conceptual understanding. Reviewing the positives, the minister said that the number of students who secured A+ grades while studying in government schools had increased while the number of E-graders had substantially decreased.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2017.