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The NESU, which denotes the above title, provides professional and technical advice to the Minister through the Permanent Secretary on issues pertaining to the National Examinations, Standards, Selection Procedures and the Progression of students from the three exit points in the education system in which national examinations are administered. The NESU also advises on new developmental approaches or policies in examination and assessment taken. Objectives • Administer three National examinations namely SISE at grade 6, SIF3 at Form 3 and the SISC at Form 5. • Assist in the administration of Form 6 and 7 that are directly under SPBEA qualification frame work. • Monitor educational standards through the conduct of national examinations and other assessment devices/programs. • Administer the promotion of students based on the selection procedures guided by the Legal Notice 9. • Grant certification and approval for repeat and transfers. Activities and Outcomes Activities Outcomes • The three SISE Examiners executed the Examiners’ Instrument accordingly and also complied with SISE Examinations- Std 6 the conditions and terms thereat. • The drafts of SISE examination papers were received still rather very late this year by NESU. • The Moderators were identified and the moderation on the three SISE examination papers was executed. • The dissemination of all exams to the 10 provinces and about more than 500 primary schools was on schedule. Table 1. Shows The General Enrolment Data By Gender And The Access Rate Exam Year Tot Enrol Total Placed Total Total Percentag by Gender Placed Unplaced e Access F M SISE 1997 9,040 2,641 1,732 4,373 4,667 48% 1998 9,201 2,665 2,075 4,740 4,461 52% 1999 8,6692 Crash! - No data available. 2000 8,992 2,779 2172 4,951 4,041 55% 2001 8,354 3,190 2,715 5,905 2,449 71% 2002 7,832 3,139 2,653 5,792 2,040 74% 2003 7,684 3,218 2,667 5,885 1,799 77% 1.1 General Enrolment Data By Gender And Year The variation in the enrolment from 1997 – 1999 was caused by the ethnic tension, which led to the closure of more than 50% of the primary schools on Guadalcanal. The phenomenal shortages of places in the secondary school were soon rectified and the placement escalated since the inception of Community High School (CHS) in 2000. A drastic increase in the access rate since 2001 also reveals that in the above table. 5,885 students were placed in 2003 compared to 5,792 in 2002, a 2% increase. This slight but significant increase in the placement was due to the additional three Community High Schools with a total enrolment of 106 in the secondary system. The above table also reveals a higher proportion of male students’ enrolment than the females’ over the successive years. Table 2. Shows SISE Candidacy On The Actual Number That Sat 2003. 1.2. PROVINCIAL BREAK-DOWN OF CANDIDACY PROVINCE Total Placed Un- % % placed Access Unplaced REN/BEL 54 53 1 98 2 MALAITA 1711 1587 124 93 7 CENTRAL 356 330 26 93 7 ISABEL 389 356 33 92 8 HONIARA 823 726 97 88 12 GUADAL 961 800 161 83 17 MAKIRA/ULAW 723 582 141 81 19 CHOISEUL 460 339 121 74 26 WESTERN 1423 881 542 62 38 TEMOTU 407 245 162 60 40 TOTAL It is interesting to note that of the ten provinces, RenBel, Malaita, Central and Isabel have less than 10 percentage unplaced while Makira/Ulawa, Guadalcanal, and Honiara have less than 20 percentage unplaced. The rest have 20 percentage and more unplaced. Hence, it is also important to note that since the tension, approximately more than 50% or less was the number of students on Guadalcanal schools that did not register due to the closure of primary schools, resulting in only 705 students that registered in 1999 and 961 in 2003 compared to 1,560 in 1998. ((refer to Table 1) 1.3 SISE PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN OF PLACEMENT BY GENDER. Table 3. Shows Provincial Placement/Drop Out by Gender CANDIDATURE PLACEMENT DROP OUT PROVINCE M F M F M F TOTAL REN/BEL 35 19 34 19 1 0 1 MALAITA 971 740 904 683 67 57 124 CENTRAL 196 160 177 153 19 7 26 ISABEL 208 181 196 160 12 21 33 HONIARA 443 380 369 357 74 23 97 GUADALCANAL 544 417 445 355 99 62 161 MAKIRA/ULAW 404 319 335 247 69 72 141 CHOISEUL 239 221 182 157 57 64 121 WESTERN 675 748 410 471 265 277 542 TEMOTU 241 166 165 80 76 86 162 2.0 NATIONAL RAW MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS BY SUBJECT 2.1 Table 4 Represents Subject Means and Standard Deviations Subject Mean Standard Number Deviation English 32.1 13.6 7328 Maths 49.2 18.2 7328 General Paper 45.7 11.4 7328 Table 3. Subject Mean and Standard Deviation Of the three subjects, English, Maths and the General Paper; Maths appears to be an easier paper than the two with a mean of 49.2 but discriminates the students better with a spread of 18.2. Maths proves to be a better paper because it implies that students attempt the paper and simultaneously spread them into their abilities. This year, English with a mean of 32.1 was found rather difficult with a reasonable spread of 13.6 in comparison to the General Paper, which was often found in the past to be difficult with a mean of 45.7 and standard deviation of 11.4. A very interesting switch that may have been probably caused by examiner having deliberately set out to change the standard, readability of the examination. 2.2 RAW SUBJECT MEANS 2002-2003 Table 5. Shows Subject Raw Means Over The Years. SUBJECT 2002 2003 ENGLISH 42.5 32.1 MATHS 37 49.2 GENERAL PAPER 36.7 45.7 Table 5. Subject Raw Means While it has been the policy of the National Examinations and Standards Unit to have examiners attempt to maintain standards and quality of examinations from year to year, a number of factors may contribute to its difficulty nature. It could be argued that the examination difficulties may be caused by the pedagogical aspects in which teachers of the particular subject may have not taught or have the mastery of the particular subject well, or that the SISE cohort may have revealed weaknesses in the subject in which it could be in association with the curriculum related problems. The other probable cause may be derived from an examiner who focuses more on complex and difficult concepts or sections of the paper. Another factor may be from a highly descriptive nature of the examination with a harsh marking regime. • Inter-subjects Correlation. Maths General Paper Eng 0.60 0.62 Maths 0.62 A very good correlation in all subjects, and in particular the General paper that correlates equally well with English and Mathematics of 0.62. SIF3 EXAMINATION • SIF3 registration forms were sent to about 110 form 3 secondary schools in the 10 provinces and throughout the country. Report Guidelines: • The revised Form 4 Application forms including the choices were sent with examination papers in 1. Which questions if any proved to be order to reduce the postal cost. too easy or too difficult for the candidates? • Two subject examiners were identified and executed the examiners’ agreement. 2. Which questions if any proved to • Two subject moderators were identified and the moderation of the English and Math’s were be? 3. In which areas did the candidates executed accordingly. Again as in SISE, the drafts were received by NESU very late in 2003. show particular strengths and • The SIF3 subject markers contract was done and executed by the respective markers accordingly. weaknesses in this examination? 4. Additional comments concerning The rate per script was $5.00. Again as in SISE, the contractual marking was found cost the candidates performance 5. In your opinion was the effective, efficient and reliable. It took an average of 12 days to complete the marking that also performance of the candidates included the second marking and the checking. The cost for marking SIF3 was more than affected by the quality of the $50,000.00. production of the examination? (diagram., layout, photos or quality • The same guideline for report writing was given to the SIF3 Chief markers. The reports were of printing) professionally written and highlight the key issues. (The Chief Marker’s Report can be easily 6. Which questions if any was invalidated as a result of any error accessed). on the paper? • Total enrolment was 4,665. 7. In your opinion, was the exams set and administered according with • Total male students placed at Form 4 were 2,944 of which 1,666 were boys and 1,278 girls. the exams regulations? • The access rate for 2002 was 63%. 8. Was the amount of time adequate? 9. Did the papers reflect a good • There was an increase of 69 students in 2003 SIF3 enrollment from the previous year. coverage of the syllabus? 10. Did the mark allocation (weighting) reflect the relative importance of • The Mean and Standard Deviation were as fol ows: topics? Did the paper make use of Subject Mean SD No. the wide range of exams question types? English 46.9 13.5 4383 11. The actual no. of cand. sat, the Math 40.8 21.8 4384 highest–lowest mark & total mark. 12 General comments….. Again English was an easier paper than Math’s and also less discriminating while maths was relatively difficult and discriminates well. English Maths Mean SD Mean SD Male 46.7 13.4 44.6 22.3 Females 47.2 13.7 35.7 20.1 Both male and female student performed equally well English in English while in mathematics boys performed better than girls. The Intersubject correlation between Maths and English is 0.44, while 1.0 is the highest correlation. • The execution of the examiners and moderators’ agreements were done for the four core subjects, SISC – FORM 5 English, Math, Science, Social Studies and the rest of the elective subjects such as Agriculture, Business Studies, Home economics, Industrial Art and New Testament Studies. • The SISC registration forms were revised and sent to 43 out of 47 Form 5 Secondary Schools in the country. The four secondary schools that did not sit were; Avu Avu, Siota, Tangarare, and Adaua. • The contractual marking was again found to be very efficient cost, effective and manageable compared to the hourly rate payment system. It is, therefore, highly recommended that the script marking is again encouraged. The examination sitting for the SISC was on schedule. • The Chief markers and the Markers’ contracts were made out and executed by the respective subject markers. • The report guideline was given to the SISC Chief markers. The reports were professionally written and highlighted the key issues which of course can be accessed from the individual subject Chief markers’ report. Table 6. Student Enrollment 2002 2,550 317 183 500 2,050 2003 2,521 469 248 717 1,804 • Total students registered were 2,521. Students placed at Form 6 were about 469 males and 248 females. Although, the placement numbers are subject to change over time, the actual Form 6 enrollment in 2004 has shown a steady increase by 30%. This was due to the additional Form 6 schools in 2004. • The access rate for 2003 was 28%. • Table 7 Subject Enrollment: Eng Math Scie Soc Agric Bus. H.Econ Ind/Art NTS 2521 2521 2521 2521 1128 1281 431 432 1702 *225 *229 *229 *229 *128 *146 *30 *31 *265 • Did Not Sit It is interesting to note that the subject enrollment for NTS and Business Studies were increasingly high compared to other elective subjects. Agriculture also appears to be very popular subject offering. • Table 8 Combined Raw mean and Standard Deviation Subject Mean SD No English 41.9 11.0 2296 Math 24.00 14.1 2292 Science 30.1 14.8 2292 Social Studies 43.1 14.8 2291 Agriculture 38.8 13.2 1000 Business Stud. 37.0 13.2 1135 Home Econ 43.2 13.8 401 Industrial Art 36.1 15.1 401 NTS 53.1 13.3 1434 The Science and Math have shown to be relatively difficult compared to the rest of the subjects. Although the Social Studies have shown to be relatively easier compared to the three core subjects, its spread of 14.8 revealed a good discrimination. The Math proved to be a difficult paper but also discriminates well. All subjects mean floats around the 30’s and 40’s except for Math and NTS. Table 9 Inter-Subject Correlation Math Scie Soci Agric. Art. Busi. H/Eco Indus. NTS Eng 0.48 0.63 0.60 0.38 0 0.46 0.63 0.26 0.52 Math 0.70 0.54 0.34 0 0.50 0.55 0.32 0.42 Scie 0.70 0.50 0 0.61 0.70 0.35 0.53 Soci 0.44 0 0.53 0.66 0.28 0.53 Agric 0.50 0.30 0.57 0.38 Art 0 0 0 0 Busi 0.65 0.10 0.47 H/Eco 0 0.55 Indus 0.41 Combinations of the following subjects have appeared to correlate well: Math and Science, Science and Social Science, and Science and Home Economics with all 0.70. The least correlation is between Industrial Art and Business Studies of 0.10. Form 6/7 • The total number of secondary schools with Form 6 in 2003 was 14. • However, the number of Form 6 places allocated this year (2004) have slightly increased due to the additional new Form 6 schools, namely; Luesalemba, Jones Adventist College Panatina. The current number of Form 6 in the country is 17 Table 10 Form 6 Student Enrollment 2000 339 100 239 2001 316 100 216 2002 586 116 670 2003 725 207 520 • The above table reveals approximately 30% access rate at Form 7. • Almost twice the number was Art students compared to Science. • The total number of Form 7 places allocated to five secondary schools in 2004 was 207 to the following: KGVI 110 (Art 51, Science 59) Betikama 25 ( “ 11, “ 20) WNSS 28 ( Art only) Goldie 25 ( Art 11, Science 14) HHS 25 (Art only) The selection and placement was very much influenced by the cut – off points from an aggregate of 10 (E-3B) for Science and 12 for Art. The 11’s and 12’s in the science could not get the places due to the limited number of places. RECOMMENDATIONS • LEGAL FRAME WORK The Legal Notice # 9 needs to be revised to create an additional clause to be stipulated for the selection criteria for the Community High Schools. The recent development of SISTA has triggered off another concern regarding the revision of the Legal Notice # to cater the changes in the selection features. • National Examination and Assessment Board (NEAB) The revival of the Examination Board will help to alleviate some of the burdens that this unit is currently faced in some aspects of the decision-making, accountability and transparency. The revised function and membership of the NEAB has been submitted but is still awaiting approval. • SYLLABI/PRESCRIPTIONS While clearly, there is a need for the future development of subject prescriptions and subsequently the Examination Specifications for SISC, SIF3 and SISE, it is of paramount importance that due consideration is given in the revision of the current subject syllabi. • ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING (AFL) There is now a paradigm shift in the assessment framework from the Assessment for Ranking to Assessment For Learning. This shift will focus more in the primary and lower secondary. This AFL should be back to back with SISTA as a way to improve the students’ learning and quality of teaching by teachers. This is going to be the new project administered by SPBEA. • NESU STAFFING NESU has recently recruited the Technical and Assessment personnel. We are yet to recruit another officer before we can be comfortably implementing our work programs efficiently and effectively. • TRANSPORT It is highly essential that there be transport made available for NESU during its operation. Becoming immobile will only result in the ineffective implementation of the Work Program. We have to be mindful of the fact that NESU is strictly on the time schedule – that examinations to be sat on this date must eventuate. Failing to comply with the examination regulations will only result in the invalidation of examinations. This can be very costly and time consuming. Recommendation. Hiring a vehicle can be very costly indeed. It is highly recommended that a vehicle be purchased for NESU to run its operations. On hiring basis, each year NESU would be spending about $100,000.00. There are vehicles that can be purchased for $35,000 to $40,000.00. This option would certainly save money. • INDEPENDENT INVIGILATORS Chief Markers’ reports received and summarized by NESU had revealed numerous evidences of cheating that have taken place in schools. Several schools last year were alleged of cheating. It is imperative that security measures are taken and seek legal action on those schools that were involved. Hence, the need for independent invigilators must be addressed quickly this year before the next round of the examination sitting. • OFFICE FACILITIES TO BE PAID UNDER NESU RECURRENT BUDGET. Quality Services cannot be achieved without proper supporting facilities. There is a need of 1 only photocopying machine, 1only scanner needed for quality examination paper, 3 computers and 1 only matrix printer needed for printing out examination results. One only power point projector. (See NZAID Budget)
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