LAHORE: The Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) on Tuesday launched an online Item Bank System (IBS) for assessment of children from class 1 to 8 in 65,000 public sector schools of the province.

The School Education Department (SED) had abolished board examinations for primary and middle level to save children from extra burden in 2019.

The Punjab Cabinet approved the Assessment Policy Framework (APF) in December 2019 and SED notified the policy in February 2020.

Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas inaugurated the assessment system on Tuesday.

The salient features of the APF include replacing and repealing the previous policy covering earlier primary/elementary level assessments/examinations, transition from examination to assessment that supports and encourages learning.

The APF focused on school-based assessments (summative and formative) and sample-based large scale assessment (LSA).

The SED directed the PEC to supervise technical input on the revision, improvement and implementation of the policy. The PEC developed a standardised item bank for quality assessment following the international assessment platform for testing.

The commission developed the IBS and it would generate school specific equated paper for each grade and subject along with standardised keys and rubrics with one click, an extensive security feature had been embedded to ensure that schools utilised the item bank system for paper generation. The schools were strictly prohibited to use any other item and the system was developed to ensure uniform assessment across Punjab.

PEC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tariq Iqbal said 300 questions for every subject were included in the system and the software would automatically generate paper for each school and subject after logging in. He said the system would generate a 25-question paper for each grade and subject and the students would have to solve these MCQs and other comprehension-related questions.

While inaugurating the system, Murad Raas said the system was launched for students to learn and understand subjects and it would also hone their skills. He said the papers would be developed containing 50pc MCQs and 50pc comprehension.

He said the system would ensure the assessment of the cognitive abilities of students in line with the national curriculum.

The minister added that the standardised assessments would support teachers through key feedback for continuous and needs-responsive improvement and adjustment in teaching practices. He said the features of the system were developed considering a wide range of consultations with local and international experts to provide solutions.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2022