aiou course code 8624 keybook download free

aiou course code 8624 keybook download free

Level: B.Ed. (1.5 Years)

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/utcoceioe5adpro/8624.Image.Marked.pdf/file

 

 

 

Discuss the important features of text books and examination system. Also give suggestions for improving the both.

ANSWER

The process of educating and examining the growing human child is as old as man himself. Only its form and method have changed from time to time, the primitive man was taught by example and tested through confrontation with the actual life situations. In the early civilized societies formal instruction was limited to a gifted and selected few: The sage, the philosopher and the religious preceptor taught and tested orally by questioning the disciple.. For purposes of appraisal usually two terms are used, namely; examination and evaluation. The term examination aims at ensuring that the matter learnt is adequately fixed and properly recalled. . This is a narrow significance and usually relates to class room situations in which emphasis is laid on the learning of a few facts and skills. But the term evaluation has a wider connotation.  It relates to finding out the mental, moral and social changes that have come about in the personality pattern of a student and are directly affecting his behavior. Evaluation has a direct reference to the goals of education and therefore, must take into consideration broader implications which have

. Concept of Examination

Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or fruits (of you toil). But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere (Al-Quran.ii:155).ExaminationExamination is a measuring instrument intended to verify both a candidates’ value and value of teaching he has received. — It is an indicator of the training given and received. It is to measure what has been accomplished during the period of study to weigh each candidate’s sum of knowledge and appraise his ability. It looks like target, incentive, motive or stimulant. “It provides motives for the teacher and a spur for the pupils. Examination conditions and orientates the entire teaching process” (UNESCO 1961)  The aim of our examination system is to judge the achievement of students in different areas such as personality development, creative thinking, and love for Islamic values examinations are the only tools for measuring these aspects. — Examinations are frequently employed in order to keep the students constantly stimulated to high level of achievement. Examination system may be internal or external. The success of which depends on the reliability and the validity of the system.

 Examination Page and Thomas (1978) explain the concept of examination as

“(1) Assessment of ability, achievement or present performance in a subject

(2) instrument of assessment can be log essay or mixed form of assessment may be used for qualifying for entrance to professions and higher education.”

 VIEWS OF NATIONAL EXPERTS ABOUT EXAMINATION

Examination system has been one of the burning issues with the large number of Committees, Commissions and Conferences. The recommendations of these were reviewed under the following headings to suggest ways and means to improve the system of examination.

Schedule of Examination

Boards, by regulation should fix the dates of their respective examination and announce them soon after the commencement of the new academic year. In the case of natural calamities and other extraordinary circumstances, special examination be held for them in prevented from taking regular examination (Govt. of Pakistan, 1966, 1978).  The grouping of subject in the date sheets should be so revised as to reduce the number of examination days (Govt. of Pakistan, 1973).

. Conduct of Examination

Supervisory staff should be carefully selected in consultation with or on the recommendation of the employing agencies (Govt. of West Pakistan, 1969. Govt. of Pakistan, 1973) Only these centers, where necessary facilities are provided should be approved the Board for holding examination (Govt. of West Pakistan, 1969, Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).  Heads of institutions where examination centers are located should be the principal supervisors of the centers. They may be allowed recruit invigilation staff from amongst trusted teachers and should be solely responsible for proper conduct of examination (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971, 1978).  To ensure effective invigilation, the number of invigilators should be increased to maintain a ratio of 1:20 (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).

. Conduct of Examination

Examination agencies should compensate the supervisory staff for any damages they might suffer in performing their examination duties. In view of the personal danger to invigilators in the honest discharge of their function, the Board should consider framing rules, which would enable them to take action on the basis of confidential reports from invigilators (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971). — Action should be prescribed against persons who create disturbance in or outside the examination hall (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).  Instead of paying D.A. to the supervisory staff, the rate of their remuneration be increased by 50% and they should be paid only T.A (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).

. Conduct of Examination

Examination should be held during holidays from the 2nd week of March to 2nd week of April every year (Govt. of Pakistan, 1978).  Cases of unfair means should be dealt with seriously. If any teacher is found to be assisting in the use of unfair means, he should be proceeded against for removal from services and declared unqualified to act as a teacher in any institution (Govt. of West Pakistan, 1969) — The conduct of examination at centers where conditions for holding examinations are not conducive may be entrusted to a senior administrative officer who should be given adequate authority and power to deal with the situation properly (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971, 1988).

. Internal Examination / External Examination

To make the completion of the main secondary school courses, examination should be conducted by teachers themselves who know the pupils and conditions of work Certificates should be issued under the authority of the school. These schools should give a full and comprehensive picture of pupils’ achievements in various phases of school life (Govt. of Pakistan, 1959).  The system of examination should be reorganized and the award of certificates be bases on the performance of the students in the public examination conducted by the Universities/ Board of Secondary Education (seventy five percent of the total marks) and school records, including the results of periodic test and also appraisal of his habits and general behavior (twenty five percent) (Govt. of Pakistan,

. Internal Examination / External Examination

The teacher on the notice board as well as in the pupils, progress report, should record result of periodic tests in the school (Govt. of Pakistan, 1959).  The importance of public examination at the secondary stage should reduce. But to abolish these examinations at the secondary stage of our educational history will not serve the purpose (Govt. of West Pakistan, 1969). Boards’ of secondary education may consider the desirability of permitting some selected school to hold their own examination and these be recognized of corticated issued by the Boards (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).

. Disadvantages of Internal Assessment

The teachers within the school may give hints to students about internal assessment so it is not learners are not challenged by the internal assessments. Learners need to be challenged by the assessments…. but as for external assessments students are expected to know everything because there is no hint requires students to compete…

Internal Examination / External Examination

The sessional or internal evaluation marks should not be taken into account in a public examination (Govt. of Pakistan, 1966). The Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary School Certificate Examination should be combination of internal evaluation and public examination. The scores obtained in both should be recorded side by side on the certificate (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).

. Process of External Assessment Conduct

Selection of paper setters and reviewers.  Setting and moderation of question papers.  Printing and packing of question papers confidential nature of printing work. —Selection of examination centers —Appointment of superintendents and invigilators and staff for the fair conduct of examination at centers.  Supply of stationary to centers  Distribution of question papers to examinees under the supervision of the centre superintendent

. Process of External Assessment Conduct

Posting of police personnel at the centers.  Packing of answer scripts and sending them to Board’s office or examining body’s office. — Deployment of special squads for checking unfair means. — Assignment of fake of fictitious or secret roll numbers to answer books at the Board’s office. — On the spot evaluation at some specified centers where head examiner and examiners mark the scripts.

 Importance & Objectives of External Assessment

To award the students with Degree/Certificate

To maintain standard of education

To place the students in merit.

For Comparison of student’s abilities To evaluate the progress of Institution — Selection for Higher education

To get employment

Popularity/Standard of educational institution.

Selection of intelligent students.

Evaluation of teacher’s performance

Evaluation of objectives and curriculum.

Creation of good habits in students

 Satisfaction and happiness of parents

 Advantages of External Assessment

External assessment helps in developing competent person from practicing.

— It justifies the decision as to whether they should move up to the next class or be awarded a degree or diploma

. — External assessment is useful in determining the abilities of a student before developing a plan.

— External assessment is designed to detect and locate faults and problems which often are overseen by internal systems

— The vital advantage of an external assessment is that it makes easier to compare diverse situation and conditions and articulate their judgments about the equality of measures.

— It also assists in following positive values.

. Advantages of External Assessment

A team of experienced assessors leads you through the structured review of how well students are doing, bringing fresh perspective and objectivity to the exercise.

— Performance in educational institutes is increasingly judged on the basis of effective learning outcomes.  External assessment provides Information which is critical to know whether the School system is delivering good performance and to providing feedback for improvement in student outcomes.

— External assessment is the best way to evaluate and revaluate the course of studies. — It can be used as a good device for motivating students

. — It brings about a change in the attitude, interests and appreciation of students and teachers towards school programmes.

. Disadvantages of External Assessment

— Much narrower range of assessment opportunities: less diverse assessment; one exam per year

. — Removes assessment entirely from teaching and learning; stressful conditions may lead to students not demonstrating real capacities.

— Limits validity by limiting scope of assessment, e.g. difficult to assess interaction skills in exam environment.

— Even with double marking, examiner’s judgments can be affected by various factors (task difficulty, topic, interest level, tiredness, etc); little opportunity for assessor reflection / review

. — Fairness can only be achieved by treating everyone the same, i.e. setting the same task at the same time

 Disadvantages of External Assessment

— The only feedback is usually a grade at the end of the course; no opportunities for interaction with assessor; no chance to ask how to improve

. — Examination is purely summative, and does not serve any teaching-related purpose; effects on teaching and learning may even be negative; may encourage teaching to the test and a focus on exam technique, rather than outcomes.

— Teachers play little to no role in assessment of their students and have no opportunity to share their expertise or knowledge of their students; students treated as numbers. — Teachers have no opportunity to build their assessment skills; get little or no feedback on how to improve as teachers.

. Suggestions for Improvement of external assessment

— Comprehensive Evaluation

— Employees of examining bodies to be controlle

— Invigilating staff

— Secrecy sections should be fool proof

— Appointment of Examines

— Change in examination point of view, It should not be objective, It should be mean to achieve objectives

— Reform in question papers

. Suggestions for Improvement of external assessment

— Marking of Answer Scripts

— Ban on helping books and guess papers

— Amalgamation of Internal and External exam

— Oral test should be taken — Amalgamation of subjective and objective type test

— Record of students — Question paper should be based on curriculum rather than text book

 Establishment of Bureau of Examination

All Pakistan Commission be appointed to survey the prevailing practices of examinations at various levels and its recommendations should be implemented. The Central Govt. set up the Bureau of Examination. This Bureau should have a branch in each province (Govt. of West Pakistan, 1969, Govt. of Pakistan, 1975).

Evaluation of the examination system 1.The credibility of examination results has been grossly eroded due to large scale, unhampered cheating. 2. The basic purpose of most students to pass the examination is to obtain high marks by fair or foul means. 3. The current system defeats basic targets of education which are acquisition of understanding and application of knowledge. 4. The pattern of question papers with wide range of choice encourages and facilitates selective study and rote reading rather than understanding and application.

 Evaluation of the examination system

. The type of question papers develop unhealthy practices such as proliferation of guide books, made easies, guess papers and tuition work. 6. Malpractices, cheating and even terrorization can be indulged in without adequate accountability. 7. There is little protection provided to the personnel concerned with various stages of examinations.

. SOLO TAXONOMY AND EXAMINATIONS To achieve the better quality of examinations, SOLO Taxonomy is being used in various countries. In Australia, it is successful Characteristics of SOLO Taxonomy SOLO TAXONOMY discourages rote learned response. In SOLO, in every new task the student has to progress through each level. SOLO assists in identifying steps towards understanding of learning objects. It facilitates marking of open ended questions and provides advice on instructional activity for the students and classes. It provides a framework for constructing scope and sequence of curriculum. It provides a framework for establishing content validity for tests and examinations. In SOLO, the analysis can clearly describe the competencies of Punjab Education Commission the Government of the Punjab has established Punjab Education Commission so that they may improve the examination process at elementary level. The objectives of the whole process for improving the examination system are as under: Improvement in teaching and learning with respect to each of the examination subject Making clear that at different class level, the students have grasped a comprehension of the concepts Monitoring the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. Facilitating the bench marking of students’ achievement Monitoring equity of student outcomes with reference to rural/urban and male/females Evaluating the existing curricula and textbooks Monitoring the whole education programme Providing information regarding the selection of the students to proceed to the next class Providing ability to monitor students’ progress over time Facilitating judgments about the quality of examination papers and examination process (UNICEF, 2005a).       

Question No 2

Analyze the secondary education system of Sri-Lanka and Germany

The German education system functions upon the rules and regulations of the Basic Law “Grundgesetz”. The Federal Ministries of Education, Cultural Affair and Science is the main authority for making education, science and arts policy guidelines, and for adopting related laws and administrative regulations.

 

The ministry closely collaborates with the Federation and Länders (German states) authorities, in supervising the entire activity of the educational institutions, organizations and foundations.

 

Responsibility on education issues in Germany is shared amongst Länders and the Federation (which has a minor role). Though, there are areas of cooperation in the education field for which such a distinction between both parts doesn’t exist, known as “joint tasks” or “Gemeinschaftsaufgaben”.

Landers, on the other hand, have a wide legislative power around their territory about school, academic, adult and continuing sector (except if the Basic law empowers the Federation with such a power instead).

How is the school system structured in Germany?

The German school system is divided into 5 levels:

Early Childhood Education.

Primary Education.

Secondary Education.

Tertiary Education.

Continuing Education.

Germany School System

 

Early Childhood Education in Germany

What Is Considered Preschool Education in Germany?

Early childhood education is optional education and care that children between 0-6 of age receive in the Federal Territory of Germany.Who’s Responsible for the German Preschool Education?

Supervision of the German pre-school education is mainly the responsibility of the State Youth Welfare Office “Landesjugendämter” of the respective Lander. They’re in charge of issuing licenses for the preschool education and care institutions.

To get such a preschool education operation license, providers have to meet the requirements. This includes having the right child/staff ratio, properly qualifications educators, adequate space, appropriate equipment and hygiene, as well as the age-appropriate education program.

Youth offices manage also the operation and investment money that Lander or “Kommunen” allocates for activities and advancement of German preschool education centers.

Which Are the Institutions of Preschool Education in Germany?

German pre-school education is largely offered by privately-run day-care centers and less by institutions established by local authorities. Preschool education providers are “Kinderkrippen” (crèches), child-minding centers, kindergarten, and day-care centers.

Priority in offering childhood education services is offered to non-public organizations, such as Churches, Welfare or Parent’s Associations. Local authorities may offer preschool education services, only if there’s a lack of private initiatives or poor services of the aforementioned providers.

Opening hours of the preschool education institutions are scheduled in cooperation between parents and managing staff. However, usually children get a 7-hour day childhood education and care, including lunch and sometimes a midday break.

Which Are the Teaching Methodology and Materials in Preschool Education in Germany?

 

For Children Under the Age of 3

The core educational mission of the German preschool education (age under 3) is the enhancement of communication skills amongst kids. Secondly, it is the development of their language skills through the social interaction with other toddlers and adults.

Communication and language skills are taught by language role model (educators), finger plays, singing, pictured books and additional teaching practices/instruments.

 

Furthermore, an important part in pre-educating children is given to the motor development. This includes increasing body awareness, self-acceptance, self-confidence and concentration amongst the toddlers.

Motor development is reached through physical activities, visiting public environments, rhythmic early education programs, singing and movement playing.

For the Children over the Age of 2

Core values that preschool education seeks to develop amongst children are the enhancement of their teamwork skills, along with their level of integration in daily life activities.

Key areas of German preschool education of children older than 2 are

(1) language, writing, communication,

(2) personal and social development,

(3) development of values and religious education,

(4) mathematics, natural sciences, (information) technology

(5) fine arts/working with different media

(6) body, movement, health and

(7) nature and cultural environments.

Such values are taught through self-organized learning, creative learning, teamwork building activities, investigation and experimental activities.

Assessment of the Educational Achievements in Preschool Education in Germany

Children are not assessed regarding their educational achievement reached by participating in German preschool institutions. Instead, they’re constantly supervised by their educators or trainers regarding their attainment from learning activities.

The opinion of educators is discussed with parents of the children, who together agree on further measures on development of kids’ learning skills.

What If a Child Isn’t yet Ready to Begin Compulsory School Studies?

There is a middle option for children having reached the compulsory school attendance age, who yet hasn’t reached the needed development leading to further studies. This is relevant for children with disabilities and those in in need for special education. So, they attend a special school offered by some Landers, known as School Kindergarten “Schulkindergärten”, or a Preliminary Class “Vorklassen” beforehand.

 

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and known as Ceylon before 1972, is an island country in South Asia, located about 31 kilometres (19.3 mi) off the southern coast of India. As a result of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and It has also been a center of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times and is one of the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia. The total land area is 65,610 sq. km. and is astonishingly varied. A length of 445 km. and breadth of 225 km. Density of srilanka is 308.4/km2. Total population of srilanka is 211,28,773 and population growth rate is 0.9% (2009).The country is famous for the production and export of tea, coffee, coconuts, rubber and cinnamon – which is native to the country. The natural beauty of Sri Lanka’s tropical forests, beaches and landscape. After over two thousand years of rule by local and Tamil kingdoms from India, parts of Sri Lanka were colonised by Portugal and the Netherlands beginning in the 16th century, before control of the entire country was ceded to the British Empire in 1815.

 

Official name of the country

 

The official name of the country is The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a free, independent and sovereign nation. A system of administration through provincial councils was introduced in 1988.

Location

Continent

Srilanka is a an island country in south Asia.

 

Latitude and Longitude:

Sri Lanka lies between 5O 55′ and 9O 55′ north of the equator and between the eastern longitudes 79O 42′ and 81O 52′.

Mother Language and other widely used language:

The official and national language of srilanka is Sinhala and Tamil. according to Ministry of education in Sri lanka almost 74.1% Sinhala people used Sinhala as their mother language and 13% Tamil people used Tamil Language as their mother language. English is fluently spoken by approximately 10% of the population, and is widely used for education, scientific and commercial purposes. Beside this Arabic language is spoken by moor and Coreole Malay language is also used in srilanka.

 

Ethnic group

The people of Sri Lanka are divided into ethnic groups whose conflicts have dominated public life since the nineteenth century. The two main characteristics that mark a person’s ethnic heritage are language and religion. In srilanka there are 2 main ethnic group Sinhala and Tamil. The majority people is Sinhala people (73.9%) and Tamil (13%). 7.4% is moor people. Beside this Berghar, Malays people is also in Sri Lanka.

Education System of Sri Lanka

Education in Sri Lanka has a long history which dates back two millennia and the Constitution of Sri Lanka provide for education as a fundamental right. The Sri Lanka’s population has a literacy rate of 92%, higher than that expected for a third world country; it has the highest literacy rate in South Asia and overall, one of the highest literacy rates in Asia. Education plays a major part in the life and culture of the country and dates back to 300 BC. Modern education system was brought about with the integration of Sri Lanka in to the British Empire in the 1800s and it falls under the control of both the Central Government and the Provincial Councils, with some responsibilities lying with the Central Government and the Provincial Council having autonomy for others.

 

History of education in Sri Lanka

Education in Sri Lanka has a history of over 2300 years, it is believed that the Sanskrit language was brought to the island from North India as a result of the establishment of theBuddhism in the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa from the Buddhist monks sent by Emperor Asoka of India. Since then the an education system evolved based around the Buddhist temples and Pirivenas (monastic colleges), the later primarily intended for the education of clergy (even to this day) and higher education. Evidence of this system is found on theMahawamsa and Dipavamsa, the Chronicle of Lanka that deals with the history of the island from the arrival of Prince Vijaya and his followers in the sixth century BC

 

With the out set of the colonial expansion in the island, first in the coastal provinces and then interior, Christian missionary societies become active in the field of education. The Church’s monopoly of education in the island ended following the Colebrooke Commission set up by the British administration.

• Educatoin Overview
• Literacy rate: 92.5%.
• Enrollment grade 1: 98%.
• Primary completion: 96%.
• Secondaru education completion: 83%.
• Structure of the Education in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka’s education structure is divided into five parts. Five parts is shown below in a diagram:
• Structure of education in Sri Lanka
• Primary Education
• Junior secondary education
• Collegiate Education
• Tertiary Education
• Senior secondary Education
• Primary or Elementary Education:

 

Primary Education, in its national context refers to a child’s education during the first five years in school and is essentially the important and initial phase of a child’s formal education. Since the minimum approved age for admission to formal education in school, in Sri Lanka is 5 years, the majority of the Primary pupil population in schools will be within the age range between 5 to 9 years.

Duration:

The duration of primary education in Srilanka is five years from grade 1 to grade 5.

Age group:

 

Grade 1: 5-6 years

 

Grade 2: 6-7 years

 

Grade 3: 7-8 years

 

Grade 4: 8-9 years

 

Grade 5: 9-10 years

 

Subjects:

 

The schools in Sri Lanka are expected to follow the national curriculum prepared by the National Institute of Education. However there is adequate provision for local variations, Particularly in the lower grades as there are no constraints imposed by the demands of National level examination. The span of five years in primary education is divided into three Key stages:

Key stage 1: grade 1and 2

Key stage 2: grade 3and 4

Key stage 3: grade 5

At primary level the key subjects are taught separately while other areas are integrated around environmental studies. Accordingly the subjects in the primary curriculum are:

 

First Language or Mother tongue

 

Mathematics

 

Religion

 

Environment based activities

 

Activity based oral English

 

First Language: there are two main ethnic groups in srilanka and their mother Language is either Sinhala by Sinhalese group nor Tamil by Tamil People. So first Language means Language which is mother tongue of the students. And Sinhala is first language for Sinhalese students and Tamil is First language for Tamil students.

Activity Based Oral English: activity based oral English is promoted through conversational or situational approaches by the class teacher. This is to provide opportunities to use simple English for conversation.

Primary education curriculum is shown below:

LEARN TO LEARN

ENSURE ATTAIMENT OF MASTERY IN ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES

Key stage 1

Key stage 1

 

Grade 1 & Grade 2

• First Language
• Mathematics
• Religion

Co-curriculum

Activities based oral english

Environmen related activities

Interaction with older

• Mathematics
• Religion

Co-curriculum

Activities based oral english

Environmen related activities

LEARN TO LEARN

ENSURE ATTAIMENT OF MASTERY IN ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES

Key stage 3

Key stage 1

 

Grade 5

• First Language
• English

 

englis

 

• Religion

LEARN TO LEARN

ENSURE ATTAIMENT OF MASTERY IN ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES

Key stage 2

Key stage 1

 

• First Language
• English

 

english

 

Grade 3 & Grade 4

• Mathematics

Co-curriculum

Activities based oral english

Environmen related activities

Teaching Learning Strategy:

 

The Following teaching learning strategy is follows In Primary level Education in Sri Lanka:

 

Gueded Play

Activities

 

Desk Work

 

At key stage one the mode of teaching learning strategy is primarily play and activities. In key stage two there is a mix play, activities and desk work. In key stage three there is greater emphasis on desk work.

 

Assessment system

 

In primary level, students are assess by a continuous recording of their progress in their every learning activities. Teachers are trained to record children’s progress individually in every learning activity and individual assistance and guidance is provided as and where necessary. This also assist teachers to improve their teaching methods if felt needed by considering the whole class. Teachers are discourage to compare children across their achievement levels.

 

Scholarship Exam: at the end of the primary level, the students may elect to write a national exam called the Scholarship exam. This exam allows students with exceptional skills to move on to better schools and students having extra ordinary result get scholarship up-to tertiary level.

 

Medium of Instruction:

 

Due to the variety of ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, many schools teach only in either Sinhala medium or in Tamil medium some schools also use English for their medium of instruction.

 

Secondary Education

 

In Sri Lanka secondary education is divided into 3 parts such as:

 

Secondary Education

Junior secondary education

Senior secondary education

Collegiate education

Secondary Education:

 

After primary education, the junior secondary level (referred to as middle school in some schools) lasts for 4 years (Grades 6-9) followed by 2 years (Grades 10-11) of the senior secondary level which is the preparation for the General Certificate of Education (G.C.E) Ordinary Level (O/Ls). According to the Sri Lankan law, it is compulsory that all children go to school till grade 9 (age 14) at which point they can choose to continue their education or drop out and engage in apprenticeship for a job or farming. However, the Ministry of Education strongly advises all students to continue with their studies at least till the G.C.E Ordinary Level. Students who are pursuing tertiary education must pass the G.C.E O/Ls in order to enter the collegiate level to study for another 2 years (grades 12-13) to sit for the G.C.E Advanced Level. On successful completion of this exam, students can move on to tertiary education, there for the GCE A/Ls is the university entrance exam in Sri Lanka.

 

 

 

 

Question No3

Discuss the issues of seventh five-year plan (1988-1993).

The Seventh Five-Year Plans for National Economy of Pakistan, otherwise known as Seventh Plan,[1] were a set of a highly centralized and planned economic development targets designed for the improvement of the standard of living, and overall strengthening of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Pakistan, between the period of 1988 until its termination in 1993.

 

The seventh plan was drafted and presented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), led by then popularly elected Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, at the Parliament in 1988.[2] The plan was studied by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and resources were gathered to be allocated by the Planning Commission.[2] The seventh plan was an integral part of Bhutto’s social capitalist policies implementation and was also integrated with the nationalization programme of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The plan emphasized macroeconomics principles and was intended to support the development of the agricultural and electricity sectors in Pakistan in order to keep up the GDP growth rate, which at that time was 6.6%— one of the highest in the world.

 

Under this plan, science policy was further expanded to integrate academic scientific development into national development plans. The seventh plan also took initiatives to revive deregulation of the corporate sector but did not privatize the sector into private-ownership management.[Unlike the sixth plan, not all targets were met and goals were not sufficiently fulfilled. Only the agricultural and scientific development aspects of the plans were continued[whilst all major initiatives were cancelled by the upcoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who replaced the programme with an intensified privatization programme, launched in 1991.

 

Objectives:

 

(a)   During the plan the jobs will be provided to 6 million people and educational unemployment will be removed.

 

(b)  People will be provided better facilities regarding food, housing, education, transport and other public utilities.

 

(c)   Human resources will be developed by giving more emphasis on education and training.

 

(d)  The self-sufficiency will be attained in every field of economic activity.  The dependence on foreign assistance will be reduced.  The local technology will be employed in place of foreign technology and skill.

 

(e)   The role of private sector will be increased.  Most of nationalised industries will be given back to their owners so that dependence on government budget could reduce.

 

(f)     A balance will be brought in government budget, i.e., the gap between government expenditures and revenues will be narrowed.  The autonomous bodies will be engaged in self-financing.

 

(g)  To remove deficit in BOP and enhance exports the effective steps will be taken.  A balance will be restored in exports and imports through industrial, commercial and exchange rate policies.

 

(h)  A restrained monetary policy will be pursued to ensure persistent price stability.

 

 

Strategy:

(a)   To introduce such high yielding variety (HYV) seeds having the resistance against the heat, salinity and drought.

(b)  To increase yields per hectare through more efficient use of fertilisers, water management and development of appropriate farm technology.

(c)   To get self-sufficiency in the production of sugar.

(d)  To develop improved varieties of fruits and vegetables in size, seasonality and longevity of exports.

 

Targets:

(a)   The GNP growth rate will be 6.5%.

(b)  The agriculture growth rate is projected at 4.7%.  The major crops growth rate will be 4%, while the minor crops growth rate will be 5.5%.

(c)   The industrial growth rate will be 8.1%.  The large scale industries will grow @ 8%, while the small scale industries will grow @ 8.4% during the Plan period.

(d)  Means of transportation and communication will grow @ 6.7%.

(e)   The literacy rate will move to 40%.

(f)     The production of oil per day will move to 49000 barrel.

 

Priorities:

(a)   The first priority will be given to energy sector.  Accordingly, there will be a 56% increase in resources for energy development during the plan period.

(b)  The second priority will be given to education.  The expenditures on education will be doubled.  More emphasis will be given on primary education.

(c)   The third priority will be given to population planning.  In this respect, there will be a 76% increase in resources for population planning.

 

Performance:

The Seventh Five Year Plan was prepared within a broad-based socioeconomic framework of a fifteen years perspective (1988-2003), emphasizing efficient growth in output on one hand and improving the quality of life on the other.  Of the Perspective Plan total incremental targets, about 23.6% of GDP, 22% of investment, 23.8% of exports, 26.2% of imports and 21% of revenue, were envisaged to be attained during the Seventh Plan.  It attempted to address the deficiencies in social sectors, education, health, women development, etc. as well as economic problems like fiscal and current account deficits, inflation and unemployment.  Many policy reforms were launched during the Plan period and a new economic edifice on free enterprise, open market, privatisation and deregulation and liberalisation has been raised.

The tempo of growth was affected by unforeseen events on domestic and international fronts including economic contraction of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, recession in Pakistan’s export markets, the Gulf War, the delay in the settlement of the Afghan issue, the political uncertainties on the domestic front, frequent changes of government, civil disturbances in 1989-90 and floods of 1988-89 and 1992-93.  However, the overall performance has been satisfactory.

 

Question No 4

Explain the reorganization and importance of teacher education. Also highlight the factors which affect the quality of teacher education in Pakistan.

 

The right to education is enshrined within the Constitution of Pakistan. Article 25-A Pakistan states: “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.”(“The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan”, 2012)

Following the 18th amendment, education has largely become a provincial rather than a national issue, and each province has made progress in developing reforms to their respective education systems. However, implementation of these reforms has remained a huge challenge. There is no doubt that steps have also been taken to strengthen the facilities and services for primary, middle and secondary schools, as well as an admirable effort directed towards the expansion of non-formal education. Unfortunately, major issues and challenges continue to hinder the end goals of these initiatives from being achieved.

Some statics on the state of education in Pakistan

To share a few examples of the obstacles faced, the population of Pakistan has reached 208 million individuals as of 2018. 38% of this population currently lives below the poverty line (Jamal, 2017), while 43% of the adult population (i.e. aged 15 and above) remains illiterate. For portion of adults mentioned, the percentage can be further broken down to reveal a substantial gender gap wherein 51% of adult women compared to 30% of men are illiterate(AEPAM, 2016). Several other factors also directly affect the state of education in the country. A low annual education budget, over 90% of which goes for teacher and administrative salaries, is one example. Poor infrastructure that hampers productive learning environments, poor teaching and learning resources, and an assessment structure that operates in non-native languages are several more.

Further insights into statistics on the matter paint a grim picture on the country’s aspiration of education for all. For instance, there are 51.17 million children in Pakistan between the ages of 5 -16 years out of which nearly 23 million are categorized as out of school (Khan, 2017). There is also a shortage of schools, wherein for every 13 primary schools, there is only 1 middle school (“National Education Policy”, 2017). Finally, there is a shortage of teachers — around 50% of primary schools in Sindh and Balochistan and 29% in Pakistan as a whole have only one teacher (“Pakistan Education Statistics”, 2017). When it comes to the quality of education and learning outcomes of students, the numbers are even more distressing. For grade 5 students, 44% of school children cannot read a story fluently either in Urdu or provincial languages. 48% cannot read a sentence fluently in English, while 49% cannot carry out simple two-digit division.

Improving student learning is one of the key outcomes that all stakeholders of an education system should focus on. A good understanding of student learning is important for teachers, so they can focus their efforts on key areas that need to be improved and enhance teaching-learning practices in the classroom. Examination and assessment data is also useful for policymakers to understand what factors hinder effective learning, to inform future policies. In addition, examinations are used to signal student performance for admission to higher studies and for the job market. A sound assessment and examination system is thus integral to a good education system.

The education system in Pakistan is categorized as primary (grade 1-5), middle (grade 6-8), secondary (grade 9-10) higher secondary (grade 11-12) tertiary education. Those entering secondary and higher secondary education go through high-stake examinations conducted by a Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE). The secondary school education system, particularly exams, plays a major role in both teaching and learning attitudes that affect the entire system. If assessment and examinations are not aligned with the curriculum and continue to focus on textbook based examination (i.e. memorizing the content of the textbook), then eventually assessment starts to drive learning and has a trickle-down effect on the entire education system.

There are currently 29 government run BISE bodies in Pakistan (Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, KPK, and a Federal Board), along with one private, local board (Aga Khan University Examination Board), and two foreign boards (Cambridge Assessment and the International Baccalaureate system).Teachers follow the pattern set by various BISE bodies, and as such most are preparing students to rote learn as they know that the students will be tested on their ability to memorize. This directly leads to student’s own learning attitudes becoming a lifelong behavior. It is worth noting that out of the total body of students set to take their secondary or higher secondary examinations, over 90% are doing so in government schools that follows various BISE curriculums.

In this regard, government BISE bodies are widely criticized for not aligning their examinations with the National Curriculum of Pakistan — although the National Curriculum of 2006 is based on learning outcomes, many BISE bodies are still following 2002 curriculum. Another practice that has come under scrutiny is their inability to assess higher order learning, as well as a propensity to drive students to rote learn, rather than understand and apply concepts. Several studies conducted at both a national and international level (Rind, 2017), (Awan, Aslam, Muzaffar, Khan, & Rashid, 2016), (Burdett, 2017) have shown poor quality of examination questions concentrated at the knowledge rather than application level that are also frequently repeated over the years.

Furthermore, while there are major issues in quality of examination papers, there is also a lack of compatibility between grades/marks and student’s demonstrated skills, which directly impacts how the public views both the methods and validity of assessment. Meanwhile, rampant malpractice and cheating in examinations make the system unreliable and unfair for all. Through such poor practices, the system loses credibility for the qualification it offers and does not prepare students for higher learning. These students also face challenges for admission into university, as they are unable to clear the entrance exams.

To summarize: This is the harsh reality that we live in. While poverty and adult illiteracy hampers the progress to provide basic education, the quality of education and assessment is another major battle that Pakistan faces. To say that the education system of Pakistan is fraught with considerable challenges would not be accurate. Rather, it is necessary to be blunt and say that Pakistan continues to face an educational crisis.

Put together, these statistics and facts are reflective of two central issues at the heart of Pakistan’s educational crisis: Firstly, existing educational paradigms are failing our students. Secondly, there is an understandable deficit in the faith and trust that the public places in the education system, considering that the statistics suggest most students lack an understanding rudimentary linguistic or mathematical practice.

It would, however, be wrong to conclude on a note of despair. There is hope that the system could improve if certain measures are taken. Considering that 33% of all education in Pakistan is provided by the private sector, it is in the direct interest of the government to foster public-private partnerships aimed at bolstering the existing public educational framework.

In this regard, I would like to give seven recommendations that focus primarily on secondary education and more specifically on BISE bodies; not only relevant to our context but also achievable, which are as follows.

Recommendation One: Support Teaching And Learning

Intuitively, the first step towards building better education system in Pakistan is supporting academia. This can be accomplished primarily by following the National Curriculum of Pakistan and developing syllabi based on it. The syllabi should be equipped to make use of achievable Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), which clearly define what a student’s takeaway from each topic on any given subject should be. The syllabus, thus, serves as a guide for both students and teachers to determine what material they must cover as part of their learning and prevents reliance on a single textbook. Moreover, this measure allows for a fully transparent playing field that charts a complete course of studies, ensuring students will always be aware of what material they will be assessed on.

Recommendation Two: Ensure Quality Of Examinations

To ensure quality of examination papers, a quality assurance process of examination development is necessary. This process should ensure the complete alignment with the syllabus, and guarantee fairness and a linear increase in difficulty during the development of papers themselves. Processes must be developed to ensure the examination is measuring a student’s ability beyond knowledge such as understanding of the concepts, its application, problem solving etc. Frequent repetition of the same questions over the years, allows a space for student to rote learn responses; therefore, this practice should be minimized. Furthermore, it is imperative to ensure that there is fairness to the entire student body in the construction of examinations, meaning that the diverse backgrounds and circumstances faced by students are considered. For instance, if students from urban cities tend to outperform students from rural regions, it is unfair to construct examinations that may pose more of a challenge to the former at the risk of unfairly putting the latter at a significant disadvantage.

Recommendation Three: Ensure Quality Of Assessment Data

Just as there is a need to ensure quality in exam construction, there is a need to ensure quality of assessment data for a reliable, valid and fair assessment, too. This is primarily accomplished through an extensive psychometric analysis that looks at response of each examination items to strengthen the quality assurance process. For this purpose, rubrics or standardized marking scheme for awarding marks should be established for each paper to reduce the influence of personal biases on the part of examiners and ensures uniformity in the level of understanding about how to award marks regardless of whom happens to be grading the examination papers. A thorough post-exam analysis must also be conducted to determine trends in scores, item behavior to ensure standardization before disseminating the results.

Recommendation Four: Ensure Fairness And Transparency In The Conduct Of Examinations

Impersonation, cheating, and leakage of examination papers threaten the fair and transparent conduct of examination — technology can be utilized to combat them. For example, CCTV monitoring of examination halls can go a long way towards preventing cheating or improper conduct of examinations, and further instill a sense of there being zero tolerance towards any type of unfair practices. There is also a need to properly train and support both supervisors and invigilators in the conduct of examinations, allowing for more experienced individuals to oversee their conduct. Such good practices not only create public confidence, but also give credibility to the qualification/certification.

Recommendation Five: Improve The Quality Of Teaching And Learning

While supporting teaching and learning is necessary, it is also important to emphasize that both processes can be continually iterated and improved on. One of the key ways to do this is for examination bodies to provide regular feedback to schools in the form of comprehensive, systematic analysis of school achievements and results. This feedback could potentially compare the performance of each school with others and offer an interpretation of these results along with suggestions on areas where the school might be able to improve. Collectively, data from multiple schools could also be relevant to larger education departments as it illustrates trends in both student understanding as well as teacher performance across a wide selection of schools.

Recommendation Six: Build Engaging Classrooms Through Teacher Support

Since teachers play a pivotal role in translating the set curriculum within the classroom to achieve learning outcomes, there must be an ongoing support provided to teachers that should be focused on content and pedagogical approaches. This includes learning through classroom observation to identify areas where a teacher’s approach can be learned from or, alternatively, improved. Emphasis must also be placed on developing engaging and interactive classrooms that increase student interest and participation in the subject matter, which directly affects students’ learning and performance on examinations.

Recommendation Seven: Make Informed Decisions

A large amount of data acquired through assessment is a good source of conducting quantitative research to develop insights into how both students and teachers approach learning. This evidence-based classroom research data can be utilized to make informed decisions on matters such as identifying gaps, learning from mistakes, and developing intervention/solution strategies. Moreover, the process of sharing classroom research can also provide collaborative opportunities for educational bodies to coordinate and learn from one another.

The basic principles of operating the Aga Khan University Examination Board is based on the recommendations listed above. This unique, innovative and holistic approach to educational development, utilizes an integrated model as a demonstration of its success. At the heart of this model is research, which is used to make informed decisions about how to iterate upon AKU-EB’s practices.

Through this model, both Metric (Grades 9 and 10) and Intermediate (Grades 11 and 12) qualifications for AKU-EB have gained credibility at both a national and international level. External metrics also validate the model’s approach: AKU-EB examinations are found to be the best predictor of future success in terms of university admissions in Pakistan. According to a 2017 report by the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, a comparative study of 27 government examination boards, AKU-EB and international examination system in Pakistan shows that graduates of the AKU-EB system are also likely to do far better in university admission tests of undergraduate universities in Pakistan compared to others (Malik, Sarwar, & Imran, 2017).

Ultimately, the most important factor towards the improvement of education in Pakistan is a collaborative effort on multiple levels between stakeholders, the public and private sectors, and various educational bodies. There must be an acknowledgment on a national level that improving education is a long-term investment, and that the way forward will demand a great deal of investment before seeing returns.

 

 

 

 

Question No 5

Discuss the new trends in secondary education common now around the globe. How these trends are affecting our secondary system of education? Discuss. 

Teaching aids are an integral component in any classroom. The many benefits of teaching aids include helping learners improve reading comprehension skills, illustrating or reinforcing a skill or concept, differentiating instruction and relieving anxiety or boredom by presenting information in a new and exciting way. Teaching aids also engage students’ other senses since there are no limits in what aids can be utilized when supplementing a lesson.

As students are reading less and less on their own, teachers are finding reading comprehension skills very low among today’s students. Teaching aids are helping teachers to close the gap and hone the reading comprehension skills of their students. Using magazine and newspaper articles, prints ads and even comic books are viable teaching aids that assist in helping students comprehend text.

Teaching aids prove to be a formidable supplement for teachers when the reinforcement of a skill or concept is necessary. Not only do they allow students more time to practice, but they also present the information in a way which offers students a different way to engage with the material. Of course, this is important in order to reach the various learning types in the class.

As previously mentioned, it is important for teachers to reach all learners in a classroom. Therefore, the use of teaching aids facilitates this objective by assisting teachers in differentiating instruction. Using aids such as graphs, charts, flashcards, videos, provides learners with visual stimulation and the opportunity to access the content from a different vantage point. This gives each learner the opportunity to interact with the content in a way which allows them to comprehend more easily.

Teaching aids help to make the learning environment interesting and engaging. As we move toward a more digital society, kids are being exposed to technology and digital devices at a younger age. Video games and iPods are now what’s exciting to students, so when they come to school they have little patience for lecture style teaching. Students are seeking constant excitement and simply have no tolerance for boredom. Teaching aids are improving the quality of education in today’s schools while also providing students with the sense of excitement they desire.

Teaching aids are becoming the norm in the classroom. As traditional classrooms with blackboard and chalk become a thing of the past, and smart classrooms become the norm, teaching aids are growing in popularity and advancement. Blackboards are being replaced with white and smart boards. TVs are being replaced with LCD projectors and screens. And educators are becoming more focused on students growing with technology and integrating it into the curriculum. Students are making podcasts, videos and even creating web quests All of which are sound teaching aids to incorporate into the classroom.

You know in the classroom, to make educational atmosphere the teacher need to use many teaching aids. So what is a teaching aid? Teaching aids is a tool that is used by the teacher to present new language. It can also be used to stimulate students or relieve anxiety, fears or boredom since many teaching aids are like games. Some of the most common teaching aids include visual aids like the blackboard, realia or pictures; audio aids like cassette tapes or CDs; and audio visual aids such as video tapes and so on”, even the teacher are also a source of visual aids. Thus, today I want to focus on the role of teacher and blackboard in the classroom.

Educational technology has both general and specialized meanings. To the lay public and to a majority of educators, the term refers to the instructional use of computers, television, and other kinds of electronic hardware and software. Specialists in educational technology, in particular college and university faculty who conduct research and teach courses on educational technology, prefer the term instructional technology because it draws attention to the instructional use of educational technology. This term represents both a process and the particular devices that teachers employ in their classrooms. According to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, one of the principal professional associations representing educational technologists, “Instructional Technology is a complex, integrated process involving people, procedures, ideas, devices, and organization for analyzing problems, and devising, implementing evaluating, and managing solutions to these problems, in situations in which learning is purposive and controlled.”(p. 4). Educational technologists often employ the term instructional media to represent all of the devices that teachers and learners use to support learning. However, for many educators the terms educational technology, instructional media, and instructional technology are used interchangeably, and they are used so here. In addition, the principal focus will be upon the most modern computational and communication devices used in schools today.

History of Educational Technology

The history of educational technology is marked by the increasing complexity and sophistication of devices, exaggerated claims of effectiveness by technology advocates, sporadic implementation by classroom teachers, and little evidence that the technology employed has made a difference in student learning. Although technology proponents have from time to time claimed that technology will replace teachers, this has not occurred. The typical view among educators is that technology can be used effectively to supplement instruction by providing instructional variety, by helping to make abstract concepts concrete, and by stimulating interest among students.

The terms visual education and visual instruction were used originally because many of the media available to teachers, such as three-dimensional objects, photographs, and silent films, depended upon sight. Later, when sound was added to film and audio recordings became popular, the terms audiovisual education, audiovisual instruction, and audiovisual devices were used to represent the variety of media employed to supplement instruction. These were the principal terms used to describe educational technology until about 1970.

The first administrative organizations in schools to manage instructional media were school museums. The first school museum was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1905. Its purpose was to collect and loan portable museum exhibits, films, photographs, charts, stereographic slides, and other materials to teachers for use in their classrooms. District-wide media centers, common in school systems today, are descendants of school museums.

By the first decade of the twentieth century, silent films were being produced for instructional use. In 1910 George Kleine published the Catalogue of Educational Motion Pictures, which listed more than 1,000 titles of films that could be rented by schools. In 1913 Thomas A. Edison asserted, “Books will soon be obsolete in schools …. Our school system will be completely changed in the next ten years” (Saettler 1968, p. 98). In 1917 the Chicago public schools established a visual education department to take responsibility for the ordering and management of films, and by 1931, thirty-one state departments of education had created administrative units to take charge of films and related media. Despite these efforts, films never reached the level of influence in schools that Edison had predicted. From evidence of film use, it appears that teachers used films only sparingly. Some of the reasons cited for infrequent use were teachers’ lack of skill in using equipment and film; the cost of films, equipment, and upkeep; inaccessibility of equipment when it was needed; and the time involved in finding the right film for each class.

Radio was the next technology to gain attention. Benjamin Darrow, founder and first director of the Ohio School of the Air, imagined that radio would provide “schools of the air” (Saettler 1990, p. 199). In 1920 the Radio Division of the U.S. Department of Commerce began to license commercial and educational stations. Soon schools, colleges, departments of education, and commercial stations were providing radio programming to schools. Haaren High School in New York City is credited with being the first to teach classes by radio, broadcasting accounting classes in 1923. Peak activity for radio use occurred during the decade between 1925 and 1935, although some radio instruction continued through the 1940s. Nevertheless, radio did not have the impact on schools its advocates had hoped. In the beginning, poor audio reception and the cost of equipment were cited as obstacles to use. When these problems were overcome in later years, the lack of fit between the broadcasts and teachers’ instructional agendas became more important factors. Ultimately, efforts to promote radio instruction in schools were abandoned when television became available.

World War II provided a boost for audiovisual education. The federal government and American industry were faced with the challenging task of providing training for large numbers of military recruits and for new industrial workers. Ways had to be found to train people swiftly and effectively. The U.S. government alone purchased 55,000 film projectors and spent $1 billion on training films. In addition to films, the military used overhead projectors to support lectures, slide projectors to support training in ship and aircraft recognition, and audio equipment for teaching foreign languages. Experience gained from the wartime use of these media fueled their subsequent use in schools in the decades to follow.

Instructional television was the focus of attention during the 1950s and the 1960s. This attention was stimulated by two factors. First, the 1952 decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to set aside 242 television channels for educational purposes led to a rapid development of educational (now called public) television stations. A portion of their mission was to provide instructional programs to school systems in their viewing area. The second factor was the substantial investment by the Ford Foundation. It has been estimated that during the 1950s and the 1960s the Ford Foundation and its related agencies invested more than $170 million in educational television. One of the most innovative efforts at this time was the Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction (MPATI) which employed airplanes to transmit televised lessons over a six-state area.

By the 1970s much of the enthusiasm for instructional television had been exhausted. Educational television stations continued to provide some programming, and school systems and state departments of education formed consortia to pool funds to provide for the cost of program development. Congress also provided funds to support instructional television via satellite transmission in an effort to help rural schools, in particular, to obtain courses that might not otherwise be available to their students. However, instructional television appeared to prosper only where there was substantial public, corporate, or commercial support. Schools found it difficult to meet the substantial costs incurred for program development and the purchase and maintenance of equipment. Moreover, despite repeated efforts, it proved nearly impossible to broadcast instruction when individual teachers needed it.