‘The Commission established that the abolition of national form two
exams in 2009 contributed to the massive failure recorded last year’
Minister for Education and Vocational trainings Dr Shukuru Kawambwa
By Songa wa Songa,The Citizen
Posted Tuesday, October 22 2013 at 07:53
Posted Tuesday, October 22 2013 at 07:53
In Summary
According to a leaked report the mass failure was caused by more than the much-publicized introduction of new grading system
Dar es Salaam. Outdated
questions, poor marking, inadequate time, lack of testing skills among
those tasked to set exam questions and the removal of national Form Two
exams in 2009 were among the key factors that caused the massive failure
during the 2012 Form Four national exams The Citizen can
authoritatively reveal today.
In May, this year, preliminary findings by the
Commission of Inquiry set to investigate the 2012 massive failure, show
that the unprecedented poor performance was mainly caused by the
introduction of the new grading system called Fixed Grade Ranges (FGR)
introduced by Necta for the first time last year.
But, according to details gathered by The Citizen
from a leaked report the problem was more that the much-publicized
introduction of new grading system.
For instance, the Commission established that
there was lack of trust between National Examinations Council of
Tanzania(Necta) and Tanzania Institute of Education, though the two
institutions are supposed to work closely in managing the composition of
exams. Necta is the statutory body tasked by the law to set exams, test
and assess all students from primary to secondary schools, while TIE is
an agency that deals with the introduction and management of syllabuses
and curriculums.
Though the government has not made public the
findings by the Commission, The Citizen has reliably established that
the team, led by former Tanzania Commission for Universities Executive
Secretary Prof Sifuni Mchome, which was formed early in March had
completed and submitted the findings by mid-June.
Prof Mchome was recently appointed permanent
secretary of the ministry of Education and Vocational Training. It is
noteworthy too that the 15-man team was left to operate with 13 members
when nominated MP (Chadema) James Mbatia declined the appointment and
later, resignation of prominent education activist Rakesh Rajani.
According to details gathered by The Citizen
through off-the-record interviews, the duration set for the candidate to
answer Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics was less than the fair time
required given the nature of the questions that appeared in last year’s
national exams.
As a result, many students didn’t finish their
papers in these three subjects. The Commission concludes that for the
nature and magnitude of the questions that were composed by NECTA in
these three subjects, candidates needed more than what was allocated to
them to perform better.
But, the Mchome-led Commission, established that
the majority of the questions in Physics and Chemistry subjects were set
out of syllabus.
It was also established that while TIE is
supposed to verify all exam questions that Necta sets, this has not
implemented for years, leaving the exam body with full control of what
is used to assess students.
The verification by TIE, according to the
Commission’s findings, would have made it possible for the agency to
establish whether questions set by Necta meet the requirements of the
current syllabuses and the curriculum.
The Commission, according to our sources,
established that TIE issued a competency-based curriculum while Necta
set exams on content-based curriculum despite the paradigm shift since
2006, hence confusing candidates.
There were also serious technical glitches in the marking
process like when one student answered correctly a mathematics question
that wasn’t in the last year’s Form Four exam, but was awarded 12 marks.
This, according to the Commission was caused by exhaustion and little time given to the examiners.
According to reliable details gathered by The
Citizen, some of exam setters who are in the Necta database have no
credibility or the prerequisite skills for the sensitive job.
The Commission also established that Continuous
Assessment (CA) wasn’t used properly by Necta in grading the final Form
Four results. What transpired in last year’s exam was that the results
were mainly determined by score in final exam.
The CA was meant to contribute 50 per cent of candidate’s final grading.
But, Necta feels that since some headmasters are
dishonest, most of the CA forms are doctored in order to boost their
charges’ final grading. The Commission argues that not all headmasters
are dishonest so the concern was not a valid reason for it ended up
punishing students who had worked hard during their years of study, only
to slip during the finals.
The Commission according to our sources, also
established that the abolition of national form two exams in 2009
contributed to the massive failure recorded last year.
According to available data, between 2009 and
2012, 1,294,230 students sat for the Form Four National exams, but
590,686 or about half of them scored Division Zero. The data, which are
in the public domain, paint a gloomy picture of the Tanzania’s education
system.
The public had been made to believe that the mass
failure was mainly caused by the introduction of the new grading system
called Fixed Grade Ranges (FGR) introduced by NECTA for the first time
last year.
For instance, between 2009 and 2010, the number of
Form Four students who scored Zero Division rose dramatically by 265
percent, reaching 174,407 -- up from 65,708 recorded in the previous
year. In 2009, some 238,581 students sat for the Form Four National
examination, and 65,708 or 26.46 percent of them scored zero Division.
But in 2010, 174,407 students or 50 percent from a
total 351,598 students who sat for the National examination scored zero
Division.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
