ISLAMABAD, June 19: Federal Education Minister, Zobaida Jalal has expressed satisfaction over the newly evolved National Education Assessment System (NEAS) and said the new system would help in assessing the students on scientific basis.

She said the initiative had been taken by the ministry of education to establish federal and provincial assessment centres. The objective being to create an institutional base for monitoring the quality of education and to sustain it.

She said assessment of learning achievements of students was one of the agendas of the government and was included in various educational policies.

One of the objectives of National Education Policy 1998-2010 was to develop an assessment capacity at federal and provincial levels, she added.

The main objectives of the new system are to develop institutional capacity for test development, test administration, statistical analysis and report writing, to establish a baseline of student achievement and develop institutional capacity to conduct periodic assessment for monitoring indicators.

Moreover, to analyze student’s performance with reference to variation in instructional context, student’s background and other factors affecting student’s achievement, in order to identify the effectiveness of educational inputs.

These factors, she said, are to identify strong and weak areas of student’s learning with reference to the curriculum and target competencies, for appropriate action to inform parents, community members and other stakeholders about the quality of education to establish professional linkages with the relevant national and international institutions.

Promote uniformity of academic standards in accordance with national and international institutions.

Examination reforms are a key area in this system as well as another credit for the ministry. Areas like pre-conduct and post conduct security and secrecy have particularly been improved. Centralized marking at provincial level, sample rechecking upto 30 per cent to 50 per cent of marked answer book’s computerization and registration, allotment of roll numbers and issuance of certificate, model question papers with weightage of 20 per cent Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), 40 per cent short answers, 40 per cent essay type were also being introduced, she said. The examination boards have also undertaken reforms under the directives of the ministry to make the examination acceptable, transparent, dynamic and competitive.

She said the ministry has formulated these reforms after consultation with intelligentsia, academicians, teachers, parents and students. Many donor agencies have also expressed their satisfaction over these reforms.