BURAIDAH, 24 May — A number of educationists, parents and students voiced their concern over the new evaluation system applied for the second year in a row by the Ministry of Education and the General Presidency of Girls’ Education despite a flurry of similar complaints last year.
The new system called the Student Evaluation Program for promoting students to higher grades was implemented by both the ministry and the presidency last year. According to the new scheme, students at the first three elementary grades will pass on the next grade without appearing for any formal tests. They are evaluated throughout the term by the teacher who will decide on their promotion at the end of the year without taking any final examinations.
“The way we are doing it now does not meet our ambitions, especially for the youngsters,” said an English language supervisor in Qassim who preferred to remain anonymous. “We know that some poor quality tests have a harmful effect on teaching and learning but I believe to teach without tests is more harmful.”
Muhammad Al-Mutairy, father of a third grader, said: “My son gave me a meaningless paper stating that he was promoted to the next grade. It did not say how did he perform in his class during the year.”
Mutairy said he wanted to know about his son’s achievements, but not the “cold paper which encourages only indifference.”
“Students of the first three grades at the elementary stage do not have listings of subjects and their grades in the progress reports at the end of the year,” said Abdulaziz Al-Hamoud, headmaster of an elementary school in Qassim. “We apply what the Ministry of Education has asked us to do.”One father said he thought of giving a present to his son on his promotion to a higher grade. “But my boy could not see any meaning to that present because his report doesn’t state anything about his achievement.”
The ministry should review the system and adopt a better method of assessment that motivates the children to work hard, one parent suggested.
The new scheme was introduced by the ministry in order to eliminate anxiety about examinations among small children, reduce failure rates and discourage students from dropping out of schools.
But one educational supervisor said tests were needed to properly assess the performance of students. “Without this, it is difficult to make rational decisions,” he argued.
