Assignment No.

Course : Educational Assessment and

Evaluation

Course Code : 8624

Submitted By : Muhammad
Usman

Roll No. CA635485

Q.1 Discuss the aims, objectives and goals of
education for Muslims and Islamic Social Welfare
State.

Answer :
Aims and Objectives of Education, Objectives of Islamic
Education
After Independence in 1997, efforts were made to provide a
definite direction in
education in Pakistan. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah laid
down a set of aims that
provide guidance to all adductions in the country. This policy,
too, has sought inspiration
and guidance from those directions and the constitution of
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The policy cannot be put in a better way than in the Quaids’
words.
Ideology of Pakistan forms the genesis of Pakistan. The country
cannot survive and
advance without a policy of the entire system of education on a
sound Islamic
Foundation. The policy has adequate provisions for this transfer
mention such as
integration of society; upgrading the quality of education in
Deen in Madaaris. Nazera
Qur’an has been introduced as a compulsory component from
grade I-VIII while at the
secondary level translation of the selected verses from the Holy
Qur’an will be offered.
Furthermore, the desires of Quaid have been reflected in the
constitution of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan and relevant articles are:
1. The state shall endear as respects the Muslims of Pakistan:
a. To make the teaching of the Holy Qur’an and Islamiat
compulsory, in order
to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language and
to secure
correct and exact printing and publishing of the Holy Qur’an.
b. To promote unity and the observance of the Islamic moral
standards.
2. Provide basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing,
housing, education and
medical relief, for all such citizens, irrespective of sex, caste,
creed or race who are
permanently or temporarily unable to earn their livelihood on
account of infirmity,
sickness or unemployment.
3. Remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory
secondary education within
minimum possible period.
12
4. Enable the people of different areas, through education,
training, agricultural and
industrial development and other methods, to participate fully
in all the Forms of
national activities, including employment in the service of
Pakistan.
5. The state shall discourage parochial, racial, tribal, sectarian
and provincial
prejudices among the citizens.
Objectives
1. To make the Qur’anic principles and Islamic practices as an
integral part of
curricula so that the message of the Holy Qur'an could be
dissemination in the
process of future generation of Pakistan as a true practicing
Muslim who could be
able to enter into 21st century and the next millennium with
courage, confidence,
wisdom and tolerance.
2. To ensure all the boys and girls, desirous of entering
secondary education, get
the basic rights because of the availability of the schools.
3. To develop opportunities for technical and vocational
education in the country
for producing trained manpower, commensurate with the
needs of' industry and
economic development goals.
4. To improve the quality of technical education so as to
enhance the chances of
employment technical and vocational (TVL) education
graduates by moving from a
static, supply system to demand driven system.
Every social activity should have specific aims and objectives.
There are also some basic aims and objectives of education.
Education changes as per the changing needs within the society
the aims and objectives also changes time to time in the same
society.
Aims and Objectives of Education
There are some basic and general aims and objectives of
education in society which are as follows:

1. Good Citizens
The basic aims of education system is to have useful and good
citizens, who can be beneficial for society. Education develops
in a person the following basic social qualities:

To respect the law;

To respect the customs and tradition;
To know his/her rights and duties;
To earn his /her livelihood in an honest way;
To be emotionally and mentally sound person.
2. Cultural Aims and Objectives of Education
Education is the medium through which the cultural traditional
social and religious values of the past are transferred to the
next generation. Our education system is transferring the
Islamic cultural and religious values, which include Quran and
hadith and other related literature and the practical life style of
our holy prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The same is about other
states and religions, who want to transfer their cultures to the
next generation.

3. Education as Social Change Agent

Education is very powerful social change agent through which a
particular society’s social, religious, and political setups are
changed. If there exists some out dated cultural values, formal
and informal education is carried out in order to bring the
desired change. Which ultimately leads to social change?

Ad by Valueimpression
4. To Explore the New Dimensions of Science and Matter
Now-a-days, especially in the developed societies the main aim
of education is to enable an individual and society to explore
the new ideas. And have more and more information about the
material world so as to give more and more facilities to the
public.

Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education

Islam is a very dynamic and practical religion which is totally
different from other religions of the world. Islam wants a very
active and dynamic person in the social order. The objectives of
Islamic education for a individual and society are as follows:
The basic aim of Islamic education is to enable a Muslim to
have basic information that how to pray, fast, etc and what are
the basic information in order to live an honorable life.
Islam wants a person should be mentally, physically, and
socially sound one in order to live a healthy life. Islam wants
spiritually a balanced Muslim who can maintain balance
between religious and social activities.
Islam wants in a Muslim to have great love for Islam and be
ready for all kind of sacrifices for Islam.
One of the aims of Islamic education is to develop in a person
the spirit of Muslim brotherhood and tolerance so that he/she
could live harmonious life in society.
Islam wants a fully informed person about social, political, and
economic affairs of the contemporary world in order to play
his/her role in collective affairs.
Islam wants to bring simple life style in a person and society in
order to avoid luxury.
Education is directed for specific purposes and aims, these aims
and objectives of education vary from society to society, nation
to nation, space to space and time to time. But the main aims
and objectives of education system is to get a suitable and well
informed person for social roles and to enable a person to live
happy and successful life.
Islam placed a high value on education, and, as the faith spread
among diverse peoples, education became an important
channel through which to create a universal and cohesive social
order. By the middle of the 9th century, knowledge was divided
into three categories: the Islamic sciences, the philosophical
and natural sciences (Greek knowledge), and the literary arts.
The Islamic sciences, which emphasized the study of the Qurʾān
(the Islamic scripture) and the Ḥadīth (the sayings and
traditions of the Prophet Muhammad) and their interpretation
by leading scholars and theologians, were valued the most
highly, but Greek scholarship was considered equally
important, albeit less virtuous.

Early Muslim education emphasized practical studies, such as

the application of technological expertise to the development
of irrigation systems, architectural innovations, textiles, iron
and steel products, earthenware, and leather products; the
manufacture of paper and gunpowder; the advancement of
commerce; and the maintenance of a merchant marine. After
the 11th century, however, denominational interests
dominated higher learning, and the Islamic sciences achieved
preeminence. Greek knowledge was studied in private, if at all,
and the literary arts diminished in significance as educational
policies encouraging academic freedom and new learning were
replaced by a closed system characterized by an intolerance
toward scientific innovations, secular subjects, and creative
scholarship. This denominational system spread throughout
eastern Islam from Transoxania (roughly, modern-day
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and southwest Kazakhstan) to Egypt,
with some 75 schools in existence between about 1050 and
1250.

Organization of education
The system of education in the Muslim world was unintegrated
and undifferentiated. Learning took place in a variety of
institutions, among them the ḥalqah, or study circle; the
maktab (kuttab), or elementary school; the palace schools;
bookshops and literary salons; and the various types of
colleges, the meshed, the masjid, and the madrasa. All the
schools taught essentially the same subjects.

The simplest type of early Muslim education was offered in the

mosques, where scholars who had congregated to discuss the
Qurʾān began before long to teach the religious sciences to
interested adults. Mosques increased in number under the
caliphs, particularly the ʿAbbāsids: 3,000 of them were reported
in Baghdad alone in the first decades of the 10th century; as
many as 12,000 were reported in Alexandria in the 14th
century, most of them with schools attached. Some mosques—
such as that of al-Manṣūr, built during the reign of Hārūn al-
Rashīd in Baghdad, or those in Isfahan, Mashhad, Ghom,
Damascus, Cairo, and the Alhambra (Granada)—became
centres of learning for students from all over the Muslim world.
Each mosque usually contained several study circles (ḥalqah),
so named because the teacher was, as a rule, seated on a dais
or cushion with the pupils gathered in a semicircle before him.
The more advanced a student, the closer he was seated to the
teacher. The mosque circles varied in approach, course content,
size, and quality of teaching, but the method of instruction
usually emphasized lectures and memorization. Teachers were,
as a rule, looked upon as masters of scholarship, and their
lectures were meticulously recorded in notebooks. Students
often made long journeys to join the circle of a great teacher.
Some circles, especially those in which the Ḥadīth was studied,
were so large that it was necessary for assistants to repeat the
lecture so that every student could hear and record it.

Elementary schools (maktab, or kuttab), in which pupils learned

to read and write, date to the pre-Islamic period in the Arab
world. After the advent of Islam, these schools developed into
centres for instruction in elementary Islamic subjects. Students
were expected to memorize the Qurʾān as perfectly as possible.
Some schools also included in their curriculum the study of
poetry, elementary arithmetic, penmanship, ethics (manners),
and elementary grammar. Maktabs were quite common in
almost every town or village in the Middle East, Africa, Sicily,
and Spain.

Schools conducted in royal palaces taught not only the

curriculum of the maktabs but also social and cultural studies
designed to prepare the pupil for higher education, for service
in the government of the caliphs, or for polite society. The
instructors were called muʾaddibs, or instructors in good
manners. The exact content of the curriculum was specified by
the ruler, but oratory, history, tradition, formal ethics, poetry,
and the art of good conversation were often included.
Instruction usually continued long after the pupils had passed
elementary age.

The high degree of learning and scholarship in Islam,

particularly during the ʿAbbāsid period in eastern Islam and the
later Umayyads in western Islam, encouraged the development
of bookshops, copyists, and book dealers in large, important
Islamic cities such as Damascus, Baghdad, and Córdoba.
Scholars and students spent many hours in these bookshop
schools browsing, examining, and studying available books or
purchasing favourite selections for their private libraries. Book
dealers traveled to famous bookstores in search of rare
manuscripts for purchase and resale to collectors and scholars
and thus contributed to the spread of learning. Many such
manuscripts found their way to private libraries of famous
Muslim scholars such as Avicenna, al-Ghazālī, and al-Fārābī,
who in turn made their homes centres of scholarly pursuits for
their favourite students.

Fundamental to Muslim education though the circle schools,

the maktabs, and the palace schools were, they embodied
definite educational limitations. Their curricula were limited;
they could not always attract well-trained teachers; physical
facilities were not always conducive to a congenial educational
environment; and conflicts between religious and secular aims
in these schools were almost irreconcilable. Most importantly,
these schools could not meet the growing need for trained
personnel or provide sufficient educational opportunities for
those who wished to continue their studies. These pressures
led to the creation of a new type of school, the madrasa, which
became the crown and glory of medieval Muslim education.
The madrasa was an outgrowth of the masjid, a type of mosque
college dating to the 8th century. The differences between
these two institutions are still being studied, but most scholars
believe that the masjid was also a place of worship and that,
unlike the madrasa, its endowment supported only the faculty
and not the students as well. A third type of college, the
meshed (shrine college), was usually a madrasa built next to a
pilgrimage centre. Whatever their particularities, all three types
of college specialized in legal instruction, each turning out
experts in one of the four schools of Sunni, or orthodox, Islamic
law.

Madrasas may have existed as early as the 9th century, but the
most famous one was founded in 1057 by the vizier Niẓām al-
Mulk in Baghdad. The Niẓāmīyah, devoted to Sunni learning,
served as a model for the establishment of an extensive
network of such institutions throughout the eastern Islamic
world, especially in Cairo, which had 75 madrasas; in Damascus,
which had 51; and in Aleppo, where the number of madrasas
rose from 6 to 44 between 1155 and 1260.

Important institutions also developed in western Islam, under

the Umayyads, in the Spanish cities of Córdoba, Sevilla (Seville),
Toledo, Granada, Murcia, Almería, Valencia, and Cádiz. The
madrasas had no standard curriculum; the founder of each
school determined the specific courses that would be taught,
but they generally offered instruction in both the religious
sciences and the physical sciences.

The contribution of these institutions to the advancement of

knowledge was vast. Muslim scholars calculated the angle of
the ecliptic; measured the size of the Earth; calculated the
precession of the equinoxes; explained, in the field of optics
and physics, such phenomena as refraction of light, gravity,
capillary attraction, and twilight; and developed observatories
for the empirical study of heavenly bodies. They made
advances in the uses of drugs, herbs, and foods for medication;
established hospitals with a system of interns and externs;
discovered causes of certain diseases and developed correct
diagnoses of them; proposed new concepts of hygiene; made
use of anesthetics in surgery with newly innovated surgical
tools; and introduced the science of dissection in anatomy.
They furthered the scientific breeding of horses and cattle;
found new ways of grafting to produce new types of flowers
and fruits; introduced new concepts of irrigation, fertilization,
and soil cultivation; and improved upon the science of
navigation. In the area of chemistry, Muslim scholarship led to
the discovery of such substances as potash, alcohol, nitrate of
silver, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and mercury chloride. It also
developed to a high degree of perfection the arts of textiles,
ceramics, and metallurgy.
The commitment of the Islamic state to welfare is derived,
according to Dr. Chapra, from the mercy (Rahmah) that the
Prophet (peace be upon him) was sent with. Thus, “welfare”
and “good life” become synonymous. Ironically, welfare must
be understood in its general and comprehensive meaning that
includes all aspects of human life, the economic aspect is but
one of them. Chapra feels that there exists abundant evidence
to make it “absolutely unjustified not to term the Islamic state
as a welfare state.”2 El-Ghazali expresses this concept of
welfare saying: “The objective of Shari'ah, as far as people are
concerned, is five-fold: The protection of their religion, life,
mind, offspring, and property. Thus everything that implies
promoting these five things (or any of them) is Maslahah
(interest) and everything that implies harming them is
Mafsadah (harm).” The economic implication of this
comprehensive welfare concept is that the Islamic state is
responsible for the following:

To eradicate poverty and to create conditions for full

employment and a high rate of growth,
To promote stability in the real value of money,
To maintain law and order,
To ensure social and economic justice,
To arrange social security and foster equitable distribution of
income and wealth,
To harmonize international relations and ensure national
defence.”
In the course of the fulfilment of these responsibilities, the
Islamic state resorts to tools like planning, undertaking social
and physical infrastructure, providing measure for ensuring just
wage rates and just prices, economic assistance to the elderly,
the disabled, and the handi- caped.
The financial resources suggested by Chapra to meet the
requirement of this role of the Islamic government are four:
Zakah, income from natural resources, taxation, and borrowing.
Zakah’s ratio, collection and disbursement are very well treated
in the original sources of Islam leaving not much to be added,
while taxation and borrowing still need more elaboration.
Chapra suggested that the “right of the Islamic state to raise
resources through taxes cannot be challenged.” Loans may be
obtained from the public on the basis of profit-sharing in
certain projects or on the basis of their zeal and inspiration.
Loans from central bank, although inflationary in nature, may
be reverted in a few cases where the anticipated harm of price
instability is less than the expected benefit of such borrowing.
Although Chapra stressed the principle of justice as far as the
size and the distribution of the tax burden are concerned, he
did not articulate this principle with respect to the validity of
the use of taxation in financing different activities of the Islamic
state. How much of these activities can be financed through
taxes and how much through borrowing? And how could the
economic priorities be listed? What reflects more justice —
having higher standard of living for the poor and more taxes, or
lower standard and less taxes? What expenses of the state can
be financed from each of these three sources: taxes, Zakah, and
borrowing?

Questions of this kind deal with the legitimacy and the extent
of tax levying. Their answers represent constraints on the
economic behaviour of the Islamic state. The role of promoting
“economic” welfare that Chapra assigns to the Islamic state
requires two sets of activities: production activities that can be
summarized as the promotion of better utilization of economic
resources which he called, “full employment and high rate of
growth”; and distribution activities that may be summarized as
the reduction of income differential between the rich and the
poor. This is the goal of social and economic justice and the
equitable distribution of income and wealth of Chapra. The
extent of these two major economic functions of the Islamic
state depends on three factors, namely, the endowment of
natural resources, the level of technology and the amount of
financial resources that can be raised from within and from
outside the economy. But since both natural resource
endowment and the state of technology are given in any short-
and medium-term analysis, and the ratio and categories of
disbursement of Zakah are also given, the amount of taxes that
the state can legitimately collect becomes a principal
determinant of the level of its performing the above-mentioned
functions in any Islamic society.

Q. No. 2 : Critically analyze the functions, role and

core values of Federal Government Educational
institutions Cantts & Garrisons FGEI.
Answer :
The Cantonment Board Educational Institutions spread all over
Pakistan were taken over by Federal Ministry of Education on
01-06-1975. As a result, all the employees working in these
institutions became Federal Government employees. These
employees are civil servants and their services are governed
under Civil Servants Act 1973.

The control and management of these institutions were

transferred to GHQ in September 1977. The Directorate is an
attached department of Federal Ministry of Defence and has a
dual responsibility to deal, at one hand with the GHQ and
Military Formations, on the other hand with the Ministry of
Defence (MoD).

The budget for pay and allowances etc of the employees as well
as for establishing new institutions is provided by the Ministry
of Finance through MoD.

Federal Government Educational Institutions Directorate

(Cantonments/ Garrisons) is one of the directorates of the
IGT&E’s Branch headed by the Director General Federal
Government Educational Institutions (Cantonments/Garrisons).
The Directorate has 12 subordinate offices called Regional
Offices located at Peshawar, Wah, Rawalpindi, Chaklala,
Kharian, Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Karachi,
Fazaia and Quetta (Regional Offices Gujranwala, Bahawalpur,
Chaklala & Fazaia are working on ad-hoc basis). The aim of this
Directorate is to provide educational facilities to the children of
Armed Forces Personnel in particular, and the children of
civilians residing in the cantonments, in general. The
Directorate exercises complete administrative, academic,
technical and financial control over all the educational
institutions and their employees, in accordance with the
policies of the Ministry of Defence/ Establishment Division.
Mission:
To provide purposeful and quality education to the wards of
Armed Forces personnel as
well as of civilians, residing
nurturing fine citizens' skills among the students and providing
the healthy educational
environment, so as to make them useful members of the
society.
Core Values
Instilling in the students moral, social
becoming good human beings and patriotic Pakistanis.
Grooming them to be educationally sound to adjust as effective
and productive
members of the society.
Making the students physically and mentally robust by providi
facilities of sports and co
Realizing the fact that in FGEIs children generally come from
the lower social
strata of the society thus deserve utmost care in their
nurturing.
Educational Institutions of the Cantt Boards all over Pakistan
were taken over by the
Federal Ministry of Education in 1975. In September 1977, the
administrative and
financial control of these schools and colleges was transferred
to DAE (Director Army
Education). Subsequently, in November 1981, a separate
Directorate was created under
IGT&E Branch to deal exclusively with the affairs of the Federal
Govt. Educational
Institutions (FGEIs) in Cantts and Garrisons (C/G). Recently, FGEI
Directorate has been
declared as an attached department of Ministry of Defence DEI
exercises administrative
and financial control over the department and its employees
through the authority
delegated to him under the Cabinet Division letter issued in
September 1977.This is a
fundamental document which spells out the functions of this
Directorate. FGEI
Directorate has dual role. On the one hand it is a Directorate of
GHQ, on the other it is an
attached civil department of the Ministry of Defence with
99.5% of its employees being
paid out of civil establishment.
The employees of FGEIs are governed by the Civil Services Rules
and enjoy protection
to the extent that their cases of indiscipline and inefficiency
cannot be dealt with
expeditiously. They have a right of appeal before the Federal
Service Tribunal against
any decision. For appointment and disciplinary actions, the
authority of the Director is
rested to the employees of BPS-15 AND BELOW. For gazzetted
employees in BPS-16
and above the authority for regular appointments, promotions
and disciplinary actions
rest totally with Ministry of Defence, Establishment Division
and Federal Public Service
Commission. However, The Director FGEI enjoys full powers of
posting and transfers in
respect of all categories of the civil employees.

Organization of FGEI Directorate

The organization of the Directorate is as under:

Director (Brig)

Military Staff Civil Staff

Dy Director (Col) Dy Director (Colleges)
GSO-I Dy Director (male)
GSO-II Dy Director (Females)
Steno (JCO/NCO) Financial & Estab. Officer
Driver (Sep) Admin. Officer
Superintendent
Other Staff
Role of FGEI Directorate:
The role of FGEI Directorate is:
“To exercise full administrative control over FGEIs in Cantt and
Garrisons with a view to
providing better educational facilities, primarily to the children
of servicing persons and
civilians residing in Cantt areas”.

Functions of FGEI Directorate:

This directorate performs following functions:
1. Implementation of National Education Policy.
2. Laying down of uniform syllabi, textbooks and schedule of
examinations.
3. However, syllabi and schedule of Matric, FA/FSc, BA/BSc &
MA exams are
controlled by FBISE and the Universities.
4. Maintenance of high academic standards and quality of
education.
5. Selection and recruitment of categories of all categories of
teaching and nonteaching staff except Grade 16 and above.
6. Management, posting, promotions, transfers, welfare and
disciplinary/ administrative
actions regarding civil staff. Promotion/disciplinary actions
against Grade 16 and above
are dealt with by Ministry of Defense and Establishment
Division.
7. Preparation and processing of budget establishment, Annual
Development
Programs/ Plans in respect of FGEIs and procurement of
necessary funds from the
Ministry of Defense.
8. Execution of development projects through MES

Regional Offices
FGEI Directorate has eight sanctioned regional offices
throughout the country. An
additional regional office has been established at Gujranwala
and Bahawalpur and its
Govt. sanction is in process. Out of nine regions, four regions
are headed by Army
Officers (Lt. Cols) and five regions by civil officers. At present,
following regional
offices are functioning under GSOs-I Deputy Directors (Civil):
a. Peshawar, Wah, Quetta and Karachi Under GSOs-I Lt. Col
b. Rawalpindi, Mangla, Multan, Lahore, Gujranwala and
Bahawalpur
The organization of Regional Offices is as under:

Lt. Col-I Deputy Director

Major GSO-II/Assistant Director

Education JCO Administrative Officer/Supdt

2* OR Clerical/Ministerial Staff

The number of institutions presently being run by Federal

Government Education
Institutions Directorates in eleven regions throughout Pakistan:
 Primary Schools
 Model Schools
 High Schools
 Inter College Female
 Inter College (Co-Education)
 Degree College Male
 Degree College Female
 Degree College (Co-education)
Q.3 How many types of private schools are
working in Pakistan at Secondary level? Explain.

Answers:
Following the primary education from ages 5 to 9 is the 3-year
Middle School (sixth to eighth grades for children ages 10 to
12), a 2-year secondary school (ninth and tenth grades
culminating in "matriculation") and higher secondary or
"intermediate"—eleventh and twelfth grades). Some accounts,
including official reports, include the post-primary Middle
School as part of the "secondary" stage. On the other hand,
some include the "Intermediate" or "Junior College" as part of
the "secondary" distinguishing it as "higher secondary."

In 1991, there were 11,978 secondary schools with an

enrollment of 2.995 million students and 154,802 teachers with
a student-teacher ratio of 19:l. Because of the relatively low
enrollment at the primary education level and high dropout
rates at the Middle School (see the section on Preprimary &
Primary Education), the Seventh and Eighth Five Year Plans
substantially augmented allocations at the primary and Middle
School levels. The government also sought to decentralize and
democratize the design and implementation of the education
strategy by giving the parents a greater voice in running school.
It also took measures to transfer control of primary and
secondary schools to nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs).

There is a major qualitative difference between government-

run schools and "public" schools (public in the British usage,
which means real exclusive, elite schools). These charge very
high fees affordable only by the economically topmost level of
the society, probably no more than five percent of the families,
some of whom prefer to send their children to even more
exclusive schools in the Western world, notably, Great Britain.
Such "public" schools are mostly located in major cities and in
the "hill stations" and attract children from the wealthy and the
powerful including the higher levels of bureaucracy and the
military. They generally prepare students for the Cambridge
Examination, maintain excellent facilities including laboratories
and computers and highly-trained teachers. Thanks to
economic growth of the country including foreign trade,
employment in multinationals and according to some, higher
levels of corruption, the number of families which can afford
the high fees of the "public" schools has been increasing since
the 1960s. It is also considered a mark of high status to have
one's children admitted to such schools because of the
possibility that it may result in developing contacts which may
be useful in their future careers. There are, therefore,
tremendous pressures on such schools for admission. There
were also "socialistic" pressures. In 1972, following the rise of
Zulfikar Bhutto to power, some of these "public" schools were
compelled to reserve one-fifth of their places for students on
academic merit basis, thus helping the less affluent to get into
such schools.

The bulk of the secondary schools come under the aegis of the
Ministry of Education. They follow a common curriculum,
imparting a general education in languages (English and Urdu ),
Pakistan Studies, Islamiyat and one of the following groups:
Science, "General" or Vocational. The Science group includes
Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology; the "General"
group includes Mathematics or Household Accounts or Home
Economics, General Science and two general education courses
out of some 40 options. The Vocational group provides choices
from a list of commercial, agricultural, industrial or home
economics courses. There are also "non-examination" courses
such as Physical Exercise of 15-20 minutes daily and Training in
Civil Defense, First Aid and Nursing for a minimum of 72 hours
during grades 9 and 10.

The Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) taken at

the end of the tenth grade is administered by the government's
Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education. Admission to
the "intermediate" colleges and Vocational schools is based on
score obtained at the SSCE. The grading system is by "divisions"
one to three. In order to be placed in the First Division, a
student must score a minimum of 60 percent of the total of
1000 "marks;" those obtaining 45 to 59 percent are placed in
the Second Division ; and those getting between 264 and 499
out of 1000 are placed in the Third Division, while below 264
are declared failed. For those accustomed to U.S. grading, these
norms would appear low. Those in the First Division would
compare favorably with A students in American schools.

Beacon House School System

Beacon house School System (BSS) in Pakistan is the Pakistan-
based branch of
an international company with the same name. It is a group of
private feepaying academic institutions located throughout 30
cities in Pakistan. BSS
provides preschool education, primary education, secondary
education and preparation
for the international General Certificate of Education (GCE) and
local Secondary School
Certificate (SSC) examinations.
The Beacon house School System has its origin in the
establishment of Les Anges
Montessori Academy, which was founded in 1975. As soon as
the Government of
Pakistan permitted the establishment of private schools, the
first Beacon house Public
School was set up in Lahore so that the students of Les Anges
would be able to continue
and complete their schooling in the same type of educational
environment.
Les Anges Montessori Academy, the factor nursery for Beacon
house Public School,
Lahore was established in Lahore in November 1975; Beacon
house Public School, Lahore, followed in April 1978. Beacon
house, Karachi was established in January 1979,
Beacon house, Islamabad, in April 1982, Beacon house,
Rawalpindi and Beacon house,
Clifton, Karachi in 1985 and Beacon house, Peshawar in 1986.
Since then, schools have
been opened in Hyderabad, Quetta, Multan, Faisalabad,
Satellite Town (Rawalpindi),
Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Sheikhupura, Gujrat, Abbottabad, Wah
Cantt, Sargodha, Jehlum,
Sadiqabad, Rahimyar khan and Bahawalpur, and further
branches have been opened in
Lahore, and Karachi bringing the total number of branches in
the country to 83 in 1998.
The student strength of the System as a whole is nearing
35,000 and teacher to student
ratio of about 1 to 15, a figure that compares favorably with
international standards.
The Beacon house group has around 274,000 fulltime students
in eight countries and is
possibly the largest school network of its kind in the world.
Established in November
1975 as the Les Anges Montessori Academy with 19 toddlers,
Beacon house has since
grown into an international network of private schools,
imparting distinctive and
meaningful learning to students all the way from birth through
its partnership in Pakistan
with Gymboree Play & Music to post-graduation, through the
Beacon house Nation.
Of these students, close to 105,000 study at the flagship
network, the Beacon house
School System, in Pakistan as well as overseas, while the
remaining are largely enrolled
at The Educators, a parallel school network operated by the
group with over 168,000
students.
The Beacon house of today is thus much more than just a
stand-alone school. Through
distinct and independent divisions across multiple destinations
including the UK,
Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Oman, the UAE, Pakistan
and Belgium, it caters to
the education and training needs of a large and diverse group
of individuals of varying
ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and nationalities, with its
activities also extending
beyond education in some countries.
Beacon house has always laid tremendous emphasis on the
development of human
capital. From its initial association in the 1980s with The Moray
House Institute of
Education in Scotland to its more recent teaching training links
with the University of
Bradford and MARJON, Beacon house has institutionalized in-
service teacher training
like no other school.
So, with rigorous standards that demand up-to-date teaching
skills and a range of
challenging programs, the Beacon house School System brings
success within the reach
of every student.

Beacon house: Organization and Resources

A school that is part of a System has many advantages over a
school that operates on its
own:
 The system provides a wide variety of staff development
programs.
 New ideas and improved methods spread readily form one
school to another.
 60
 The Head of the school is relieved of much routine
administration, and is able to
 concentrate more of his/her energies on the academic and
educational aspects of the
 school.
 And, of course, many parents welcome the case of inter-
city transfer of their
 children from one Beacon house School to another.
Regions
The Beacon house School System’s Head Office remains in
Lahore, where the System
began. The growth of the System, however, made it necessary
to divide the
administration into three Regions: a Northern Region based on
Islamabad, a Central
Region based in Lahore, and a Southern Region based in
Karachi. The Regional Offices
act as academic support centers and are responsible for
coordination, teacher training,
school evaluation and planning and development activities in
schools in the
representative regions. Each school is administratively
independent unit headed by a
Principal/Head Teacher. The school operates under the policy
and guidelines provided by
the Head Offices.

Staff Development Centers:

The staff Development Centre is a vital part of each Regional
Offices. Its purpose is to
provide training and co-ordination for teachers, and to assist
them in becoming ever more
proficient in their work. Each Center has a well-stocked library
of educational books,
journals, video tapes and other resources, plus reprographic
equipment, rooms for
meetings, workshops and seminars and an experienced staff.
Regular co-ordination
meetings of Heads and teachers at all levels take place at each
Center.
Staff Training: The Beacon-house Bradford Link
Well-trained teachers are the backbone of a successful school.
The in-service training for
teachers is designed to meet this need and has been growing
and developing steadily for
several years.
The most ambitious in-service training program so far, is being
run in conjunction with
the Department of Teaching Studies of the University of
Bradford in the U.K and has
already contributed to the professional development of staff.
Many teachers from
throughout the System are taking part in specially designed
courses, leading to the
Branford University Certificates in Professional Studies in
Education, which can be
followed by an Advanced Diploma and then by an Honors
Degree. These courses are
very practical and concentrate on good teaching practices, one
of the aims being that each
student should be an active participant in his or her own
education. Final assessment and
validation of each participant is carried out by visiting members
of the Department of
Teaching Studies of Bradford University, thus ensuring that
standards of international
quality are maintained.
Besides this, induction courses are held for new teachers and
workshops are organized to
deal with more specialized needs. Beacon house teachers also
take advantage of local
resources where these are available, such as the Teachers’
Resource Centre in Karachi.
Foreign Experts: In order to keep abreast with areas where
essential educational research
has been carried out in other parts of the world, or what
specialist skills are needed, the
Beacon house School System has not hesitated to call on the
services of experts from
varying periods. Their experts are on permanent staff and
others have visited for varying
periods. Their advice and assistance has been of great value in
improving the curriculum
design and development in academic administration, in in-
services teacher training, in
personnel evaluation and in many other related fields.
Head Teacher Training: In the past, all school heads used to
train on the job which
worked fairly well up to a point. In the rapidly changing
educational environment, Head
Teachers all over the world are required to have training into
the latest methodologies and
techniques of educational administration. In-house expertise in
this area and Head
Teacher training has already begun.
Beacon House Academic Conference:
The Beaconhouse Academic Conference meets at intervals to
consider academic matters
affecting the Beacon House School System as a whole. It is
attended by all Directors,
principals and Heads and senior Teachers of schools in the
Beacon House School System.
Over the last ten years it has grown in size from a small group
who could all sit round
one table, to a major conference with an attendance of almost
two hundred.
Academic
General
The objective of the Beaconhouse School System is to provide
sound and broad based
academic education to all its students. To facilitate the School
makes the learning process
more and more student centered. The students are required to
be active participants in
their own education and not just passive receivers of
instruction.
School curriculum
The curriculum reflects the School’s belief that the students
should be exposed to a wide
variety of disciplines and experiences. In order to achieve this
goal, the School gives
utmost importance and priority to selection of its curriculum
and syllabus to maintain the
high standard of education offered to tis students. The main
subject areas covered up to
and including Lower Secondary levels are English, Urdu,
Mathematics, Science, Social
Studies (including History and Geography, and Islamiyat. In the
Senior Secondary and ALevel Classes, a guided choice of
subjects is available, allowing students to concentrate
their attentions on, for example Science for Engineering or
Medicine, or Business
Subjects.
Curriculum Development
Work on the curriculum, especially designed for Beaconhouse,
was initiated in March
1997. The curriculum document, when completed, will be the
most significant
achievement of Beaconhouse. It will be the first of its kind in
Pakistan, based on indigenous research suited to our
educational needs. The curriculum document may be
considered of value by other schools in the private and public
sectors as well and perhaps,
it could lead to the forming of a National Curriculum in the
future.
Religious and Cultural Education
The is a concern among some sections of the public that
schools using English as the
medium of instruction may not devote enough time into the
teaching of Islamiat and other
subjects related to the life and culture of Pakistan. At
Beaconhouse, close attention is paid
to the teaching of Islamiat (for children from Muslim families),
Urdu and Pakistan
studies. Well qualified teachers were employed for this
purpose. The School realizes that
if insufficient attention is paid in this respect, the students will
be ill prepared to meet the
demands of the society in which they have to live. These
subjects are, therefore,
compulsory and the School takes pride in its instruction.
Library
In the aim of Beaconhouse to provide well-stocked libraries in
all schools. The building
up of a large and versatile library takes time, but the
development of school libraries, to
act as the main resource center for each school, is one of the
prime targets. Most schools
now have a wide range of excellent books and magazines
available for students to read
and borrow, and an accelerating program of continuous
expansion is underway
throughout the system.
It is the aim of Beaconhouse to provide well-stocked libraries in
all schools and there is
an ongoing comprehensive program of library expansion. Most
of the BSS schools now
have a wide range of excellent books and magazines available
for students to read and
borrow. Beaconhouse is planning to make CD-ROMs available in
libraries as an
additional resource. In due course of time, access to libraries
around the world will also
be made available through the Internet. This will facilitate
research work by students and
teachers alike.
Kitchen Laboratories
Modern and fully equipped kitchen labs are being set-up in
schools where they have
introduced Food and Nutrition as subjects for the ‘O’ levels.
Public Examinations
For well over a decade the Beaconhouse School System has
entered candidates for the
University of Cambridge G.C.E. ‘O’ level examinations and for
the Matriculation
Examinations offered by local Boards. Schools in Lahore,
Karachi and Islamabad also
offer ‘A’ level facilities for students. Subjects offered in these
examinations vary slightly
from school to school, according to local and regional
requirements.
The great majority of Matriculation and ‘O’ level candidates
have achieved excellent
results over hen years, thus enabling them to gain admissions
into the leading colleges
and universities in Pakistan, as well as in the USA and UK.

Laboratories
It is firmly believed that the best way for students to grasp
scientific principles to
experience these themselves. All senior Beaconhouse school
offering Physics, Chemistry
and Biology, therefore, have properly equipped laboratories to
prepare students in these
subjects. As with libraries, a program of progressive laboratory
development is taking
place.
Computer and other IT facilities
State-of-the-art computer laboratories have been set up in
almost all BSS schools. The
computers in schools are upgraded from time to time to keep
abreast with the latest
developments in information technology. Besides those in
computer labs, computers have
also been installed in separate resource rooms and in the
libraries for research work by
both students and teachers. Every Beaconhouse student has
access to computers. A
decade ago, Beaconhouse introduced the C3 initiative which
aimed at integrating
computer aided learning into the curriculum. This has now
been replaced by ETAC
(Emerging Technologies across the Curriculum).
Internal assessment and reporting
Formal and informal assessment system is followed to monitor
students’ progress. It is
evident that formally designed tests and examinations can be
used only to measure
specific area of a students’ development that’s why teachers
evaluate their students in
different other ways using different assessment methods. In-
service teachers training is
arranged time by time to abreast them with new techniques of
assessment. Parents are
kept well informed about the progress of their children. Parents
are strongly encouraged
to attend the regular Parent/Teacher Meetings, where they can
discuss all aspects of a
child’s progress in more detail. In case of any serious issue,
parents can meet the teacher
at other times too with the permission of Principal or Head
Teacher.
Selection
In classes up to and including Class VIII, all students follow the
same curriculum.
At the end of Class VIII, students continue either in the
Cambridge or the
Matriculation stream according to laid down criteria.
Promotion
In normal circumstances a student is promoted to the next class
at the end of a
school year. This promotion depends on their overall
performance throughout the
year, and not solely on any final test or examination. If a
student’s progress and
performance is unsatisfactory (for example, if they have failed
twice to obtain
promotion at the end of a school year), the student will be
suspended from the
school. The decision of the Head of the school will be final in
these matters.
Merit Scholarship Scheme
A Merit scholarship scheme was announced in the newsletter
from the Chief Executive,
Beaconhouse School System on the occasion of Pakistan’s 50th
Anniversary of Independence on August 14, 1997. The Merit
Scholarship has been introduced and is
effective from August 98.
Scholarship schemes cover a number of circumstances based
on merit and means. Each
school is allocated a certain number of scholarships to be given
annually, therefore the
decision of the school in the awarding of scholarships is final.
The school reserves the
right to withdraw the scholarship scheme at any time and/or
amend the rules governing
the scholarship scheme at its sole discretion.
School Evaluation
School Evaluations are carried out to inspect the quality of the
school management and
leadership, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment,
and the school's own
planning and self-review. The institution has set up a systematic
school monitoring and
evaluation program based on modern principles of assessment
and development in
schools. Beaconhouse schools are evaluated by teams sent
from the head and the regional
offices. This evaluation is carried out at regular intervals and
schools are evaluated
against pre-determined standards. These standards will be
continuously revised keeping
in view the rapidly changing educational needs. These
evaluations focus on many
aspects, including teaching, curriculum instruction, extra-
curricular activities, libraries
and facilities, general management, parent teacher student
relationships, enrolment and
recruitment, staff development, finances, community
involvement, resources, career
guidance and technology.

Q. No. 4 : Discuss the aspects, principles and

mechanism of curriculum development in Pakistan.

Answer:
The major issue of the Pakistan in 1947 was re-establishment of
suitable education
specimen. Federal government has brought a lot of changes in
planning, policies,
suggestions and reconstruction process of education. Some of
these changes were
accepted and some others were rejected. Ministry of Education
has been supervising the
curriculum and the text books. This special wing of Ministry of
Education is called
Curriculum Wing. There are bureaus and centers are following
the instruction of
curriculum wing in accordance with the succeeding forms.
Bureau of curriculum and text book, moe
The present curriculum wing of Ministry of Education is the
advance form of National
Bureau of Curriculum and Text Book. The purpose of this
department is to evaluate and
coordinate the work of education in different provinces. It also
works for the equal
standard of curriculum in schools, colleges and universities of
all provinces.
92
The first function of curriculum wing is to help the government
in construction and
implementation of National Policies regarding planning of
curriculum development,
education of teachers and its evaluation. The next function of
this wing is to give a hand
in the activities of provincial bureau’s center. It also arranges
researches on various types
of curriculum. This wing is also helpful for guiding text books
boards and authors in
writing text books. This wing also keeps link with national
educational institutions as
well as international NGOs such as UNESCO, IBE, UNICEF, ILO.
The curriculum wing of Ministry of Education exceeds a
proposal to the provincial curriculum centers. These centers are
bound to revise the curriculum in accordance with criteria given
by the curriculum wing. Then subject committee including
subject specialists are formed for the sake of consideration and
revision of curriculum. The newly prepared draft is sent to
curriculum wing for approval. Then curriculum of all subjects
from all provincial centers is presented to national review
committee. After approving it, this committee put up their draft
to Education Secretary for notification. The approved
curriculum is provided to text book boards for the publication
of text books.

The different aspects of curriculum development are:

1- Integrated Approach
2- Inter Disciplinary Approach
3- Correlated Approach
4- Unified Approach
The Integrated Approach
I remember learning in the classroom and being taught subjects
in isolation. For example, I was only taught reading
comprehension in reading class or math in only mathematics
class but never in other subjects. I often wondered why some
math concepts weren't taught in science since they somehow
seemed to have a relationship. Has that ever happened to you?

Today, there is a focus on an integrated curriculum. An

integrated curriculum is described as one that connects
different areas of study by cutting across subject-matter lines
and emphasizing unifying concepts. Integration focuses on
making connections for students, allowing them to engage in
relevant, meaningful activities that can be connected to real
life. Can you imagine how an integrated curriculum can benefit
your students? Understanding the benefits and how to
effectively integrate curriculum can help teachers and students
become more successful in the classroom.

Interdisciplinary Approach
A school’s goals should be simple: that each student master a
limited number of essential skills and areas of knowledge.
While these skills and areas will, to varying degrees, reflect the
traditional academic disciplines, the program’s design should
be shaped by the intellectual and imaginative powers and
competencies that the students need, rather than by subjects
as conventionally defined. An interdisciplinary curriculum
combines several school subjects into one active project or is
organized to cut across subject-matter lines, bringing together
various aspects of the curriculum into meaningful association. It
focuses on broad areas of study since that is how children
encounter subjects in the real world—combined in one activity.
In the interdisciplinary curriculum, the planned learning
experiences not only provide the learners with a unified view of
commonly held knowledge (by learning models, systems, and
structures) but also motivate and develop learners’ power to
perceive new relationships and thus to create new models,
systems, and structures. Interdisciplinary curriculum involves
using the knowledge view and curricular approach that
consciously applies methodology and language from more than
one discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem,
topic, or experience.

Correlated Approach
Correlation design is similar to broad-field design in that it is
focused on integration. The difference is that correlation design
combines only two subjects while broad-field will combine
several subjects. In many ways, one could say that correlation
design is a simplistic version of broad-field design.
Some examples of correlation design include biochemistry,
which is the combining of biology and chemistry. Other
examples include social psychology, which is sociology and
psychology; bio-statistics, which is biology and statistics; and
music technology, which focuses on music and its use through
technology. Generally, correlation design is found at the
university level where students need expertise in specific
subjects.

The advantages of correlation design are that it fills in the gaps

within curriculum of two subjects that are related. The two
subjects are combined in innovative ways and the students are
able to see the connections between the two of them.

The disadvantages are that few teachers have enough expertise

in the two subjects to successful correlate them in a curriculum.
In addition, few teachers have the time to collaborate with
their peers on a project such as this. Despite these issues,
correlation design is an option for teachers interested in
creating a unique curriculum for the needs of their students.

Unified Approach
School Designs Benefits of a Unified Curriculum A Strong
Foundation for Learning A unified curriculum supports quality
teaching and learning by providing first-class curricula to
educators and students. It presents EdisonLearning® School
Designs partners with research-based programs with flexible
resources for addressing the needs of all learners, a consistent
instructional design to support teacher individual and
collaborative planning, and more robust, program specific
professional development. Consistent Instructional Format A
highly structured, interrelated curriculum will help teacher’s
present lessons consistently and thoroughly. Teachers will have
more time to perfect their presentation skills, monitor
students’ progress, and keep parents informed of their child’s
progress and advised of their own role in their academic
development. Improved Planning, Teaching and Learning By
providing instruction to students from Pre-K through each
ascending grade with a unified curriculum, teachers, advisors
and administrators will know more about each student’s
educational progress, his or her strengths and weaknesses, and
how to address each rather than through a mix and match
approach to planning and teaching. The unified approach
affords greater consistency across curricula and across grades.
Supplementing the Student Support Model Unified curriculum
programs are beneficial to the Student Support Model and
Response to Intervention (RtI). The RtI system is a preventive,
solution focused, school-wide intervention process. Unified
curriculum programs and their flexible resources and
assessments, make it easier to identify students facing issues
that are affecting academic achievement. This type of
continuity provides teachers with a rich array of tools and
resources for differentiating instruction and lends itself to more
productive teacher-parent collaboration surrounding areas of
academic concern - the first step of the RtI process. Enhanced
Professional Development Implementing aligned curricula and
integrated professional development with focused training
greatly benefits teacher practice which results in enhanced
student achievement. Pursuing a Strategic Partnership with a
publisher to provide more uniform curriculum complements
EdisonLearning’s robust Professional Development. This
comprehensive approach to professional development was
purposefully designed in response to partner feedback and to
meet the needs of all partner school personnel so that they can
better support students’ academic success. Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt EdisonLearning, in concert with Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, is committed to providing high-quality, research-
based curriculum offerings to our partnership schools.

Principles of Curriculum Construction

1. Principle of Child Centeredness:

As modern education is child-centered the curriculum should
also be child-centered. It should be based on the child's needs,
interests, abilities, aptitude, age level and circumstances. The
child should be central figure in any scheme of curriculum
construction. In fact, curriculum is meant to bring about the
development of the child in the desired direction so that he
can adjust well in life.
2. Principle of Community Centeredness:
Though the child's development and growth is the main
consideration of curriculum construction, yet his social
behavior is also to be suitably developed, both the individual
development and the social development of the child deserve
equal attention. He is to live in and for the society.
Therefore, his needs and desires must be in conformity with
the needs and desires of the society in which he is to live. The
values, attitudes and skills that are prevailing in the community
must be reflected in the curriculum. However, the society is not
static. It is dynamic. Its needs and requirements are changing
with the rapid developments taking place in all fields. While
working for the development,this factor cannot be ignored.

3. Principle of Activity Centeredness:

The curriculum should center around the multifarious activities
of pupils. It should provide well selected activities according
to the general interests and developmental stages of children.
It should provide constructive, creative and project activities.
For small children, play activities should also be provided.
The purposeful activities both in the class-room and outside the
class-room should be provided. It is through a network of
activities that the desired experiences can be provided and
consequently desirable behavioral changes can be brought
about in children.

4. Principle of Variety:
The curriculum should be broad-based so as to
accommodate the needs of varied categories of pupils, so
that they are able to take up subjects and participate in
activities according their capacities and interests. The needs
of pupils also change from place to place. For example, the
pupils in rural areas, urban areas, and hilly areas will have
different needs. The needs of boys and girls are also
different. So these considerations should be reflected in the
curriculum.

5. Principle of Co-ordination and Integration:

The pupils are to be provided with selected experiences
through various subjects and activities but these must be
well integrated. Various subjects and activities should serve
the same ultimate purpose, the achievement of the aims of
education. The activities and subjects should not be
put in after-tight compartments but these should be inter-
related and well-integrated so as to develop the whole child.
 6. Principles of Conservation:
One of the main functions of education is to preserve
and transmit our cultural heritage. This is essential for
human progress. Culture consists of traditions, customs,
attitudes, skills, conduct, values and knowledge.
However, the curriculum framers must make a suitable
selection of the elements of culture, keeping n view their
educational value and the developmental stage of
pupils.

7. Principle of Creativity:
The conservation of culture helps to sustain the society.
The culture should not be simply transmitted but also
enriched. There should be provision in the curriculum to
develop he creative powers of the child so that he
becomes a contributory member society. Raymont says, "In
curriculum that is suited to the needs of today and of the
future, there must be definitely creative
subjects."

8. Principle of Forward Looking:

Education is to enable the child to lead a successful social life.
The curriculum should not cater to the present needs of the
 child alone. The needs of his future life should also be
considered. The curriculum should also include knowledge,
skills, experiences, influences etc. which will develop in the
child abilities and power to make effective adjustments in
the later life.

9. Principle of Flexibility:
In our age, rapid developments are taking place in various
fields. Consequently, the needs of society are hanging. The
content of curriculum cannot be same for all times to come. It
should not be static. It must be dynamic and change with the
changing times. It should reflect the latest trends in the field of
education and psychology.

10.Principle of Balance:
The curriculum must maintain a balance between subjects
and activities, between direct and indirect experiences,
between academic and vocational education, between
compulsory and optional subjects, between formal
and informal education, between individual and social aims
of education etc.

11. Principle of Utility: Curriculum should be useful rather

than ornamental. It should not only include subjects which
 owe their place in it to tradition. The curriculum must have
practical utility for students. So there should be some
provision for technical and vocational education in the
curriculum. The various principles of curriculum construction
should be kept in mind. Various regional and national
conditions should also be considered. It fact, all
considerations which will help in achieving the aims of
education should be given
due consideration.

Q.5 Highlight the test development and research.

Critically examine the quality of examination
system and research. Also give suggestions for
improving the process of test development.

Answer :
The examination and assessment system in Pakistan The
concept of examination is as assessment of ability, achievement
or present performance in a subject. Instruments of assessment
can log in to easy or mixed form of assessment, may be used
for qualifying for entrance to professions and higher education
(Page and Thomas (1978:17) Since the time of Pakistan’s
independence, seven different education policies have been
implemented in the country. The main thrust of all these
policies was to promote quality education and the
improvement of pedagogy. Yet, the improvement in these
areas has not been achieved and is quite unsatisfactory (Rizvi,
2000). In Pakistan, assessments do not judge real competence
or genuine educational accomplishment of the students.
Instead, the Pakistani educational system encourages those
who can best reproduce what they have learnt during lessons
and fails those who are unable to do that. It seems as if the
whole system of education revolves around examinations. Such
types of assessment and evaluation are narrow in scope (Khan,
2006).
Quality of education, especially at school level, has become a
serious concern in the era of globalization. Owing to lack of
human and material resources and their underutilization, ill-
planning, lack of proper implementation and weak monitoring
has resulted in low quality of education in the developing
countries like Pakistan. Coupled with these factors, problems
exist with the basic elements of educational process objectives,
curriculum, teaching methodology, and assessment and
evaluation. Perhaps assessment and evaluation lies at the
central position in the sense that it is closely linked with
measuring the quality of learning outcomes and providing
feedback to the main actors in the educational process
students and teachers. Improvement in the system of
education particularly the curriculum and the instructional
strategies is made in the light of feedback provided by the
assessment. Although assessment may not be a panacea for all
ills, it can definitely be used to improve the quality of education
by conducting it effectively and providing feedback to the
stakeholders in timely manner. In principle, the process of
assessment is subservient to the overall system of education
and is carried out at the end of the cycle comprising delineation
of objectives, selection of the content, learning experiences
provided to the students. However, in actuality, the assessment
system has completely taken over the education process and is
controlling all other activities of the educational process.
Hence, instead of assessing what we teach, we teach what we
have processed? This is the whole crux of the problem.
Currently eight BISEs are working in Punjab one each at
Divisional/Regional level; another BISE is on the way of its
establishment in Sahiwal. There is no denying the fact that
some reforms have been carried out at BISEs level in Punjab for
the last few years.For example, the weighting of purely essay or
subjective-type question have been reduced and a balance
between objective and subjective type questions has been
provided. Consequently, MCQs (30pc), short answer (40pc), and
essay-type items (30pc) are included in the examination papers
administered by all boards in the Punjab in various subjects at
secondary school and higher secondary school examination.
But still there is a need for further improvement. The problems
and issues arise at the stage of construction of paper and its
marking. During the construction of various tests, the emphasis
is still on the lower cognitive levels - knowledge and
comprehension. The higher cognitive skills such as problem
solving and analytical skills are rarely touched. More than 50
per cent of the questions assess students recall or mere rote
memorization, which is one of the main reasons for the poor
quality of education and its ultimate product. Many times
students who attain very good or excellent grades in BISE at
secondary or higher secondary level can not apply the
knowledge and skills attained in the classroom to the real life
situations. This system of examination cannot truly assess the
learning outcomes envisaged in the national curriculum. The
situation is almost similar at secondary and higher secondary
levels and across all disciplines. In order to improve the
construction of question papers, a training was provided to
paper setters and coordinators of different subjects in two
different batches for secondary and higher secondary
examiners. During training session, one was amazed to observe
learn that the paper setters and coordinators demonstrated a
lot of resistance and they were not ready to accept new ideas
and rules and procedures for construction of quality papers.
They relied upon their intuitive knowledge regarding the quality
of the items particularly the MCQs. In view of the above
mentioned unsatisfactory situation and in the context of
examining students learning outcomes in line with the National
Curriculum, there is a need to bring more reforms to ensure the
quality of question papers and marking mechanisms. Following
recommendations may be instrumental in bringing positive
change in this regard: BISEs need to tag the internal or
continuous assessment of the students made by their teachers
at school/college level with their achievement in terminal
examination conducted by the BISEs at HSC and HSSC levels.
The Government should establish a body for test development
and reporting which should be responsible for the continuous
training of coordinators, paper setters and examiners in test
item development and analysis, and develop guidelines for
evaluation of answer sheets by the evaluators/examiners.
Teachers having required expertise in subject matter,
assessment skills, especially test development and analysis of
results should be appointed in that body through a high
powered Selection Committee. The occasional training
workshops for the paper setters will not serve the purpose of
enhancing quality of papers; training should be an ongoing
activity of the BISEs.
The construction of good papers revolves command over the
subject matter, knowledge of the rules and principles for test
construction and the skillful application of all these rules. The
above mentioned body should involve the experts in the field of
assessment and psychometrics to provide ongoing training to
the paper setters as well as analysis of results for providing
feedback to the individuals as well as schools in order to
improve their future performance. There is a provision of a
Research cell in each BISE, which has either not been
established or has failed to achieve the desired objectives of
conducting research and providing insight to BISEs for
improvement of assessment system. The new proposed body
should acquire this role. It should also organize training
workshops for coordinators, paper setters and examiners in
different subjects at secondary and higher secondary levels.
The existing weighting given to MCQs, short answer and essay-
type is good but the need of the hour is to include more
questions which can assess student’s higher cognitive abilities.
Context dependent question should be set on the pattern of O
and A Levels. Unnecessarily lengthy questions should be
avoided; instead emphasis should be on assessing problem
solving, analytical and reasoning abilities. Writer is Dean,
Faculty of Education, University of the Punjab, Lahore and
Member, Working Group, Examination Reforms in Punjab
Boards. Reform attempts are discussed under eight categories:
syllabus review and revision; increased frequency of public
examinations; introduction of internal assessment;
development of question banks; changeover to a grading
system; seme sterisation; improving the efficiency of the public
examination bureaucracy, and, creation of autonomous
colleges. Most of the impetus for reforming the examination
system came from the availability of Western experts at very
little cost to India and admiration for American and British
practices among Indian higher education authorities. The
failure of most of the reforms provides salutary lessons
regarding educational borrowing for reform.
the crucial role in determining the impact of pedagogy, public
examinations and assessment in Pakistan have more demerits
than merits (Rehmani, 2003). Moreover, modern assessment
techniques are not being used to measure students‟
achievements and hence dependency on traditional learning
processes yields a low quality of education in the country
(Christie and Khushk, 2004).
Examination questions are repeated at least every three to five
years and hence questions can be predicted. There are „model
papers‟, or „guess paper guides‟ available in the market with
readymade answers based on the question papers of the
previous five years. Teachers and students tend to rely on such
guides and students commit their content to memory.
Assessment questions in the papers contain only a combination
of objective and subjective types of questions. Regurgitation
seems to be the only key for students to pass the examinations
rather than creative thinking and independent analyses. The
irony is that those students who can reproduce better score
higher marks.
“Assessment involves the interpretation of measurement data.
It makes sense of the data collected on student performance”
The examination and assessment system in schools in Pakistan
that is applicable from primary through to secondary education
(Year X). It begins with a brief background of the Pakistani
examination system established by its colonial masters; it then
describes the present education system with special reference
to the assessment process of students. An overview of the
curriculum development and curriculum reforms in the country
expands our understanding of the moribund assessment
system in state schools the assessment system in primary and
secondary education and to assess the present rectification
measures being put in place by the education authorities. The
assessment system in Pakistan is defective due to the following:
(a).No single body is responsible for assessment at secondary
level, and examinations at this level are the responsibility of
many Boards. This results in a lack of coordination among the
working of these Boards. (b) Papers of different subjects can be
scheduled to be written at the same time. (c) Results are not
reliable because students use deceitful and indulge in
malpractices in the examination. (d) Deficiencies in marking
takes place. There has been an increase in the incidence of the
recurrence of questions and selected material is tested again
and again in our pubic examinations. This leads toward
selective studies because the understanding of a little content
helps the students to get good marks in the final examination
and nobody seems to take this fact seriously. Assessments in
examinations mainly focus on easy, straight and very simple
questions and they ignore high levels of cognition involved in
such items as comprehension, analysis, synthesis and
evaluation. In this situation, students keep focusing on
retention and rote memorization as
examination tactics.
research in testing highlights the decline in the examination
system, its ineffectiveness, and unreliability in diagnosing
students‟ weaknesses and in assessing their abilities. Testing is
not viewed as a vital component of teaching and is considered
quite distinct from teaching and learning as well as practice
reliability and validity of examination papers in terms of
coverage of curriculum, selection of paper setters, and lack of
training or otherwise of the paper setters and examiners,
marking system and preparation of results, are considered
dubious the questions after each lesson of the textbook are
based on literal levels that measure only low order thinking
skills he centralized marking at Matriculation and Intermediate
levels is also replete with faults. The education boards in their
pursuit of preparing result in a short span with cheap labour do
not put a limit on maximum number of papers to be checked
per day. And examiners mark maximum number of papers in
order to make money. This practice has opened flood gates of
reckless marking which certainly affects the quality of
evaluation. The improvement in the examination system is the
crying need of hour. Some of the suggestions in this regard are
as follows:
Some sort of internal evaluation system should be evolved
instead of annual exams. Class room lectures should be
supplemented by student-centred activities such as
presentations, group discussions, simulations and role playing.
A complete record of student’s activities and aptitude should
be kept to judge his sustained intellectual development. The
system of prescribing text books should be revised in such a
manner that students are obliged to read more than mere text
books. To sum up examination can be the index of ability if they
are conducted in the words of Burke on the principles of
‘restraint and discipline’. As far as so long the present system of
education continues, the present system of examination is
inevitable. Any change in one involves the change in other. This
is the real point. So the change should come from the top. The
exams will always horrify the students but if conducted in a
right manner they can produce a talented generation of such
people who could lift their heads with pride that they are no
cheats and know what their degrees symbolize.

END OF ASSIGNMENT