Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi recently launched a progamme “School Assessment for School Improvement” (SASIP) funded by a donor agency to be piloted initially among 10-15 schools in Karachi and Lahore. The seminar aimed at getting feedback and to brainstorm ideas on improving the tools for evaluation and efficacy of sustaining the project. Most participants agreed on monitoring and assessing teacher quality as it is the only factor to ensure qualitative learning in schools.

Moreover, there was concern for standardised parameters or criteria of judging learning quality that have not been decided on by consensus in Pakistan. The system in the country bases its evaluation of learning on Matriculation and O’ Level results whereas the overall percentage of students achieving a certain standard is never taken into account.

The rationale for SASIP is that it will provide an analytic report on the performance of affordable private schools in the areas of governance, learning environment, student academic achievements (results of class IX and X board examinations), parent engagement, financial systems and financial performance. Consequently, a school’s performance in all these areas will be evaluated and presented to the school. The aspect of accountability is missing in SASIP’s agenda but confidentiality is ensured.

Nevertheless, the concept of school evaluation is not a new one. During the times of the British colonial rule, schools were regularly inspected by an inspector of schools or even an inspectress of schools. The idea was to ensure smooth running of schools and also inculcate a sense of accountability to the authority in charge of the schools.

A separate department attached to the education ministry handled the inspection of schools and colleges under the British Indian Government which had taken on the responsibility of putting up schools and wanted to make sure those standards were maintained.

However, at Partition in 1947, the independent states of India and Pakistan instituted public schools of their own and in Pakistan they were called government schools. World Bank statistics tell us that there are 150,000 government schools all over Pakistan including primary, middle, secondary and post secondary schools.

A system of monitoring these schools was in place in the first three decades of Pakistan but it is during General Musharraf’s time that we hear of two junior commissioned officers being appointed to visit government schools to check up on what was happening there. They had been issued motorcycles to traverse the distances in rural and urban areas. Of course there was resentment by Education District Officials (EDO’s) that their preserve was being taken over by the military government. Nevertheless, civilian education officials had failed to report on the level of learning taking place in all government schools, deteriorating missing facilities and that a sizeable number of them were ‘ghost’ schools.

The ‘inspection’ by the Musharraf government unearthed the scandal of ghost schools that were functioning without students but the teachers were getting salaries without attending these schools. Statistically, a Punjab and Sindh Education Department’s survey in 1998 revealed that there were some 700 primary and secondary ‘ghost’ schools and 18,000 teachers were being paid salaries without ever going to school. In Sindh there were 340 ‘ghost’ schools and 7,000 teachers being paid salaries for doing nothing. In the absence of any kind of monitoring and evaluation of government schools which were already prey to corruption and sheer negligence, a novel way of educating the youth of the country (minus teachers and students) was allowed to exist. No accountability measures were taken to bring the culprits to task especially when education is a public good that cannot afford corrupt practices.

In most developed countries there are government agencies or private companies whose task is to monitor and evaluate schools. Since 1992, Ofsted is the official body for inspecting schools in the UK. Ofsted stands for ‘Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills’. Their job is to inspect and regulate those providing education and skills to learners of all ages. Ofsted reports directly to parliament and prides themselves on being independent and impartial. There are three independent Inspectorates of Independent Schools in the UK as well which are monitored by Ofsted. Other countries such as China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, USA, Canada and nearly all European countries have mechanisms in place to monitor and evaluate their education systems.

For a failing education system such as Pakistan’s and where private providers are now gaining ground and edging out the demand for public education, school monitoring and evaluation is a dire need. Both low-income and high-income private schools require monitoring and evaluation to ensure that parents whether illiterate or educated are receiving services worthy of the money they are spending. In the case of the Pakistani system, it is also essential to check up on the content of textbooks, whether the national curriculum is being followed, facilities for computer and science laboratories exist and that a well-stocked library is in constant use by the students.

One benefit of school evaluation is to make schools improve themselves in all spheres of quality education so that standards are maintained. For that to happen, evaluation has to be carried out only with listed benchmarks and criteria. Donor agencies in Pakistan such as the World Bank and USAID are funding projects that standardise parameters for different aspects of educational provision.

A ‘Standards for Teacher Quality in Pakistan’ has already been done but there is no authority to enforce it for teachers entering the profession or those already in service. Similarly, (National ELT Accreditation Scheme (NEAS) and Punjab Education Assessment System (PEAS) assessing learning standards through examinations are operating now within the system but there is no body to monitor that examinations are transparent and valid. Many ‘watchdog’ agencies are required for an education system to work at optimal levels and for that a uniform curriculum, quality textbooks, certified teachers and benchmarks for standardisation have to be put in order for it to succeed in Pakistan.

The writer is an educational consultant based in Lahore.

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