So the Ministry of Education is starting to outline the changes that will be made to improve accountability in the public school system. The announcement seems rushed, with the Ministry’s consultant Henry Johnson notably absent. Hopefully more details will come soon.
The changes include positive steps like the end of social promotion, the publication of school results, and rewards/sanctions for schools based on their performance. Some questions:
- What standard will be used to test the schools? Presumably an international standard so that we may compare our schools against those in jurisdictions where our students may hope to attend further education?
- “Curriculum exams” will be given to students in P3-S2, the results of which will be made public. What is a “curriculum exam”?
- Why stop the testing at S2? To date, it seems that the problems have become apparent in the following years.
- Audits will be done to confirm that exams match the curriculum. What rocket science that is. Will efforts be made to make sure the curriculum meets international standards?
- The plan will add three new administrators who will report directly to the Chief Education Officer and who will be held “directly accountable” for any failings in their areas. That’s the type of big talk that governments rarely deliver upon. How can we be sure that this is simply not just inserting another layer into the bureaucracy?
- Will graduation rates be published, and what formula will be used to calculate them?
- Will the recommendations of the Interim Education Board (IEB) be published?
Please drop me an email if you know the answers.
Replying to the Throne // Feb 8, 2008 at 6:07 pm
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