Select NaCCA to spearhead NSAT - IFEST to Education Ministry

The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) has urged the Ministry of Education to select the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) to spearhead the newly introduced National Standards Assessment Test (NSAT).

As part of efforts to improve the country’s education system, government according to the Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum will this year introduce and implement NSAT in schools.

In a press release from IFEST, it has commended the Ministry of Education for taking such a step.

“The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) commends the Ministry of Education for the proposal to introduce a National Standards Assessment Test and implement same this year,” part of the group’s press release has said.

According to the group, tracking students’ performance in addition to monitoring the fidelity of implementation of the standards-based curriculum is key to ensuring improvement in learning outcomes.

As the Education Ministry role out the new programme, IFEST insists that NaCCA must be handed the vital role to spearhead with support from WAEC.

“We, therefore, propose that the Agency in charge of curriculum and assessment is made to play a pivotal role in the implementation of the maiden NSAT.

“While we are not oblivious of the enormity of work involved in organising such a national test which might make the West African Examination Council (WAEC) the default choice, it is our considerable opinion that, the NSAT should be spearheaded by NaCCA with WAEC as the collaborating agency,” the IFEST release adds.

Find below the press release in full:

The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) commends the Ministry of Education for the proposal to introduce a National Standards Assessment Test and implement same this year.

IFEST believes that tracking students’ performance in addition to monitoring the fidelity of implementation of the standards-based curriculum is key to ensuring improvement in learning outcomes. The NSAT has the potential to foster good teaching and learning, identify students for remedial interventions and detect what the learning gaps are that need to be addressed. It will also provide information to aid resource allocation and the provision of targeted interventions; which schools and districts need specific intervention; and what the intended outcomes will be for such schools and districts as indicated in the National Pre-Tertiary Curriculum framework.

To achieve these important objectives, IFEST opines that the sanctity and validity of the NSAT should not be questionable. Hence, it will be important for adequate planning and broader consultations to be carried out to ensure an almost flawless implementation of the maiden NSAT.

We therefore propose that the Agency in charge of curriculum and assessment is made to play a pivotal role in the implementation of the maiden NSAT. While we are not oblivious of the enormity of work involved in organising such a national test which might make the West African Examination Council (WAEC) the default choice, it is our considerable opinion that, the NSAT should be spearheaded by NaCCA with WAEC as the collaborating agency.

IFEST trusts that such an arrangement will strengthen the institutional capacity of NaCCA and position it to be able to oversee future national examinations. This proposition is in sync with the objective of the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project which is to build the capacity of participating agencies. We believe the Ministry should be guided by this commitment to implement GALOP to its fullest.

Signed

Peter Anti

(Executive Director, Ag.)