Tonga needs quality education that is recognized internationally ^Featured

Nuku’alofa, 7 June 2016

Editor,

Listening to the message from the Throne during the opening of Parliament on June 2nd where His Majesty referred to Education as one of the three key challenges for the government (Health and Economy being the other two) , and taking note of what has transpired in the Ministry of Education over the last sixteen months, I can't help but support Dr. Sitiveni Halapua's view in his letter to the editor of Matangi Tonga on 1 June 2016 that it is time to work towards improving the quality of education rather than destroying it.

Given the challenge for the government from His Majesty during the opening of Parliament, “Oku fiema’u ke hiki hake ‘a e akó ki ha tu’unga fakatu’apule’anga pea ke fakatokanga’i ‘i Tu’apule’anga” the Ministry of Education should now take up the challenge seriously and develop a roadmap for achieving this challenge. Improving quality education to a level that is recognized internationally is not an easy undertaking and requires a holistic reform of the education system and not a quick-fix or ad hoc approach such as changing to raw marks or introducing a new IT programme or doing away with internal assessment, as that would only add to the current confusion.

To improve the quality of education, the focus and commitment should be directed towards what matters most in education, the student, and what it takes to improve their learning (knowledge, skills and attitudes) to a level where they can be competitive regionally and internationally. This can be achieved by; supporting teachers to improve the effectiveness of their teaching, encouraging school principals and head teachers to support teachers by ensuring that the school environment is conducive for teaching and learning, engaging parents and the community to direct their support towards improving student learning, that is what will improve the quality of education.

In addition, making sure that a relevant curriculum that clearly articulates the learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and values) expected of our children is in place, with an assessment system that focuses on assessing the extent to which students have acquired the knowledge, the skills and the values outlined in the learning outcomes.

The ongoing discussions about examinations, more specifically on 'raw marks' versus 'standardized marks' and recently on 'Internal Assessment' (IA) are but distractions from the main issue of the declining quality of education that His Majesty highlighted in his message to the country during the opening of Parliament. While the preoccupation with Raw Marks vs Standardized Marks, as well as Internal Assessment are important and need to be resolved urgently, they have little influence on the overall quality of education as examination serves different purposes.

Examination only provides a measure of what a student can answer correctly, or incorrectly, in the examination at a certain point in time. Analysis and interpretation of the marks students score on the examination are then carried out to provide information on what students can do which helps in providing a pathway for further higher level studies including university studies. While incumbent government can put in place systems, including processes and procedures, that it considers appropriate and within its mandate, it must make sure that it has the evidence to make sure that the new system, as well as the appropriate processes and procedures, would lead to improvement in the system.

Unfortunately this has not been the case with the changes to the examinations system in Tonga as claims about the weaknesses or failures of the old system are not based on any research or valid evidence, rather it is based only on the perceptions of certain people who have no authority in the field of assessment.

The latest change to the internal assessment is again a clear example of the ad hoc changes that are taking place where the claim against the evil of internal assessment, as has been the case with standardized scores, is unfounded and not based on any research or valid evidence. The assertion that internal assessment is a ‘sin’ is one of the biggest mis-information one can put forward in the area of assessment and indicates either a total lack of understanding of the rationale for having internal assessment or a personal perception of those making the claim.

Without internal assessment, one can only assume that the assessment of what a student “can do” will be based only on the external examinations. If this is the intention, then it contradicts the earlier claim in support of “raw marks” as the external examinations cannot assess all of what a student can do. It cannot assess important skills such as research skills, practical skills, computer skills, etc, thus making the examination and the raw marks it generates an invalid measure of what students can do. The inclusion of internal assessment provides the opportunity to assess the knowledge and skills in those areas that the external examination cannot assess, therefore complementing the external examinations and enhancing the validity of the qualification.

The Examinations and Assessment Unit highlighted this in its review of the 2015 cycle especially the need for the assessment to be valid. Unfortunately it has not been given any serious consideration. The assertion and blame directed towards internal assessment has nothing to do with internal assessment as a sound and internationally recognized and adopted form of assessment.

Instead the blame, if evidence is available, should be directed towards those who are responsible for implementing the internal assessment in the way it was meant to be carried out, the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry of Education should take responsibility for any failure to implement the internal assessment correctly and make sure that every participating school and teachers implement the internal assessment as intended instead of pointing the finger at the internal assessment which is a sound assessment approach adopted internationally.

Faka’apa’apa Atu,

Dr. Visesio Pongi