National standardized test to be conducted once every 2yrs

The Minister for Education, Dr Adutwum following the successful administration of the maiden edition of the National standardized test for primary four students says the assessment examination will be conducted once every 2 years.

He disclosed this in a brief address during his visit to some examination centres including Presby Cluster of Schools – Osu, Labone SHS, and the St. Thomas Aquinas SHS in the Greater Accra where candidates today sat for the test.

“The National standardised test (NST) will be administered once every two years and will provide valuable data to address learning poverty, the Minister in charge of Education told journalists in the early hours of Friday.

He in a post sighted by EducationWeb.com.gh commended teachers, supervisors and invigilators who were associated with the conduct of the national examination for their enormous contribution to making the test a successful one.

Dr Yaw Adutwum further said the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) are considering including private school students in the subsequent standardised examination to be conducted.

“Currently, the national test will be conducted in only public schools; however, there could be a consideration for enrolling private schools in subsequent ones,” the Bosomtwe Member of Parliament disclosed on December 17, 2021.

The Ghana standardised test, the Education Minister noted is not meant to grade or promote the primary four public school students but to improve teaching and learning in the government basic schools across the country.

The Deputy Minister for Education, John Ntim Fordjour on his part said the outcome of the just ended examination will provide important feedback on the weaknesses and strengths of Ghanaian students in Literacy and Numeracy.

“The first edition of the assessment exams will inform the appropriate intervention required to course-correct learning poverty. We are keen on transforming education outcomes, especially in early grades,” the Reverend Minister said.

A total of 561,595 primary four public school students from 15,911 government basic schools according to the Ghana Education Service (GES) sat for the maiden edition of the National standardised test at 2,609 examination centres.

Candidates early Friday, December 17, 2021, commenced the examination administered by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) with Numeracy at 11:00 am and completed it later today with Literacy at 2:00 pm.