Appraisal of Educational Assessment System of BISE Lahore: Issues, Challenges and Way

Forward

Problem Statement

The role of examination in students’ life has great impact in their academic life and in future for

professional life. Without conducting examination the student’s progress at particular level

cannot be determined and the goal of developing quality in education cannot be achieved. That is

why it is a need to explore the problems of students during their board exams on which bases

decisions are made about their progress through documents analysis and experts opinions. The

focus of this research would be to explore the issues, problems faced by students during board

examination and way forward.

Research Questions

What problems do the experts perceive during board examination regarding physical

environment?

2. What problems do the experts perceive during board examination regarding management and

conduction of exams?

3. What problems do the students perceive during board examination regarding technical errors

of boards?

4. What solutions do the experts suggest for these problems?

OR

The importance of public examination is also highlighted by the critical assumption that

examinations lead pedagogies. With this assumption, the current study attempted to examine the

examination pattern of public sector Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE)

operating in the Lahore Pakistan, and the ways in which the examination pattern shape teaching

and learning at the affiliated schools. In the first phase, the last ten years’ examination papers of

English, Mathematics, and Science (i.e., Biology, Physics and Chemistry) were evaluated using

desk review approach. So the study highlighted the patterns in which the high and low order

learning is prioritized in the examination papers; the frequency and ways in which items are

repeated in different years, and different chapters which are prioritized or ignored in the paper

setting. In the second phase, the teachers and students of different schools affiliated with

different BISEs were interviewed to understand (1) what level of learning they are appreciate and

practice, (2) which topics they emphasis on or ignore, and (3) which chapters from prescribed

syllabus they emphasis or ignore. The findings of both phases reinforces our initial critical

assumption that external examination leads pedagogy. This raises question on the credibility of

the examination system. Most importantly the way the examination system facilitate the

teaching-learning environment which produces students who have weak high order learning

skills. No doubt that such students struggle in coping with the higher education programs which

are based on interdisciplinary and applied approach. Thus, there is an urgent need to bring

reforms in the assessment and examination system BISE Lahore to eliminate issues and

problems in the higher education.