The Education Review Office conducts assessments, such as the National Assessment of Student Achievement (NASA), Performance Audit (PA) of schools and institutions, and research and studies, to provide constructive feedback to the education system in order to improve the quality and equity of education.
Mr. Shiba Kumar Sapkota, Director-General of the Education Review Office, recently spoke with Edusanjal on the released assessment of student learning success in Grade 10.
The test administered by the district and the school itself is the way of recognizing students' academic achievement. These tests measure how far they've progressed in their assigned class at the time.
On the other hand, the National Achievement Test is a public test that uses a scientific technique to determine the extent to which a student reaches a specified level of learning achievement, as determined by the Curriculum.
The recently conducted assessment is the first of its kind in Nepal to encompass a large number of students. The test was based on the random sampling of 42,000 students who have cleared grade 10 across the country. Along with thousands of students, 3,600 principals as well as 1,800 schools, and 1,800 teachers were also incorporated in the assessment.
Mr. Sapkota addresses concerns about the learning achievements of grade 10 students in line with the study. According to the most recent data, 51% of grade 10 students achieved the determined learning achievement. The average was 41% in 2011, indicating a 10% increase over ten years. The ERO assesses students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 on a national level. According to the current study, grade 10 students attain higher levels of learning achievement than students in grades 3, 5, and 8, indicating that students learning achievement increases as they advance to higher classes.
When comparing Nepal's school-level learning achievement to that of the international community, he points out that the learning achievement rate is around 50% elsewhere in the region as well, especially in neighboring nations. He believes a 10% improvement can be said to be signficant and a success in part of the stakeholders involved. Nonetheless, this advancement should not be considered complete, and there is still plenty to be done to improve it.
The analysis revealed that infrastructure, teacher-student relationship, environment both at schools and home, language and socio-economic conditions were the major determinants of the learning achievement among the tenth graders. A significant disparity in learning achievement rates between schools with the necessary infrastructure and schools without them. Learning achievement appears to be higher in schools with adequate learning facilities, such as infrastructure, well-equipped laboratories, libraries, playgrounds, and so on. Still, learning achievement appears to be lower in schools without such facilities.
Another crucial part of the assessment report was the linguistic aspect. Nepal is a multilingual country, where students are of multilingual backgrounds. According to the study, students who speak Nepali as their first language have a higher proportion of learning achievement. The students whose first language or mother tongue is not Nepali have slightly less learning achievement.
Furthermore, the Director-General remarked that the student-teacher relationship has a significant impact on students' learning achievement. Many students prefer and like teachers who prioritize student satisfaction, and students appear to have a positive attitude toward such teachers. As a result, schools that place importance on student contentment and pleasure have higher learning accomplishments.
Although there is a difference in learning accomplishment between the institutional and community schools, the community schools that meet the facilities have good learning achievement. As a result, it would be incorrect to generalize that all community schools have low academic attainment.
Similarly, a student's personal motivation to study has a significant impact on their ability to learn. Students who devote time to looking at home and school have a more substantial percentage of learning achievement.
The students' learning achievement at a good learning facility is high, indicating that learning achievement is ingrained into the learning facility. Also, the students belonging to a family with socio-economic background and also the students whose parents are educated have a higher learning achievement.
Finally, he adds that this study informs many stakeholders, such as teachers and school principals, on what they should focus on to raise learning achievement. The report also serves as a reminder to the students of what they should be focusing on to improve their academic performance. This report revels the gaps in education process that impact learning achievement among students. As a result, in formulating possible policies and budgets, the government can now specify where to enhance learning facilities for the underserved.
The assessment report portrays the educational advancement of the country in great detail. This is the only information about student accomplishment at the school level in Nepal available to the rest of the globe.
This report explains why and how learning performance can be improved. As a result, in formulating possible policies and budgets, the government can now specify where to improve learning facilities for the disadvantaged.
In the days ahead, all involved bodies should keep these facts at the forefront and ensure that students' learning achievements reflect positive growth in education sector.
