By Neo Kolane
Imagine the shock of marking Lesotho General Certificate of Secondary Education (LGCSE) national language examinations and discovering that some candidates cannot write proper sentences, let alone paragraphs!
Well, this might sound far-fetched, but that is the reality that Examination Council of Lesotho (ECoL) markers have been enduring since 2017 when the ministry of education and training abolished Grade 7 national examinations.
The under-performance in primary school manifests gradually and is only dictated when pupils sit for their LGCSE examinations.
To address this, ECoL is re-introducing end of year composition and letter writing assessments in English and Sesotho languages for Grade 7 pupils in a spirited bid to arrest declining standards in the country.
The move is aimed at monitoring performance by pupils at this level and advising the ministry of education and training on policy direction.
The director of examinations administration and logistics at ECoL, Ntaeboso Phenduka, told theReporter in an interview this week that when they mark LGCSE national examinations, they realised that some candidates cannot write proper sentences, let alone paragraphs.
Phenduka said the introduced end of year assessments will enable the council to provide feedback to schools and the ministry to seek ways of addressing learners’ short comings.
He noted that ECoL is also introducing comprehension, reading and speaking (oral) assessments at Grade 7.
Letters and composition tests will be marked at a central place under the supervision of the council, an implementing agency of the ministry of education and training.
Speaking, comprehension and reading will be marked in schools by class teachers.
Results of the assessments are expected to be publicised starting from the end of this year, with ECoL providing feedback to schools and the ministry.
“As we assess, we are at the same time conducting research to guide the ministry. The results of the assessments will inform us on performance trends by pupils at this level.
“We’ll then inform the parent ministry and advise on what should happen and the direction to be taken,” Phenduka pointed out.
Since 2017 the ministry of education and training has not been publishing Standard 7 results due to the 2009 policy and these were not used for admission into secondary education.
“We stopped publicising Standard 7 results when we moved from primary school leaving examination (PSLE) to grades.
“At Grade 7 assessments were done in multiple choice only, while in PSLE it was multiple choice and compositions and letters in both Sesotho and English languages,” he said.
He further pointed out that the new curriculum is intended to assess comprehension, as well as the ability to read and write, which showcases the skills and competencies learners acquired during their primary schooling.
Publication of results is intended to motivate schools and candidates to perform better and to indicate variations between schools,Phenduka added.
In 2015, the government introduced a new education system to replace PSLE with national examinations and also substituted the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) with the LGCSE.
The PSLE and COSC were set and marked locally but ratified in the United Kingdom while the national examinations LGCSE are local qualifications.
LGCSE is a non-group examination and does not have 1st class, 2nd class, 3rd class, GCE and fail grades. There are no numerals on the grades as an aggregate serves no purpose in a non-group examination.
The ECoL is responsible for developing, overseeing, and maintaining a healthy assessment system for basic education that addresses Lesotho’s educational requirements.
The council administers the Grade 7 End-of-Level Assessment, which measures learners’ attainment of learning goals as they transition to secondary school.
The president of the Lesotho School Principals Association (LeSPA), Mathafeng Moteuli, welcomed the re-introduction of end of year assessments, describing it as long overdue.
Moteuli said it has always been their concern that some students get to Grade 8 without knowing how to write creatively.
“The re-introduction is a noble initiative. It seemed like students were not being assessed at all.
“We are pleased with this change because students will be able to think on their own and become resourceful,” he noted.
The new system would also get rid of the idea that students are taken to grade 8 without being assessed.
Further, primary teachers would now work harder knowing that results will be published nationwide.
