NaCCA must spearhead National Standards Assessment for Primary 4 pupils - IFEST 

The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST), an education research organisation, has lauded plans by the Ministry of Education to introduce a National Standards Assessment Test (NSAT) this year.

The education think tank says it believes that tracking students’ performance in addition to monitoring the fidelity of implementation of the standards-based curriculum is key to ensuring improvement in learning outcomes. 

“The NSAT has the potential to foster good teaching and learning, identify students for remedial interventions and detect what the learning gaps are that need to be addressed. 

“It will also provide information to aid resource allocation and the provision of targeted interventions; which schools and districts need specific intervention; and what the intended outcomes will be for such schools and districts as indicated in the National Pre-Tertiary Curriculum framework,” Acting Executive Director of IFEST, Peter Anti said in a statement issued on Monday, June 7, 2021.

The Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei-Adutwum, disclosed over the weekend that government will introduce the NSAT for pupils at the basic level in the country as part of efforts to build a robust education system.

Speaking on the topic “President Akufo-Addo’s Education Agenda: Four years and Beyond” on Sunday, June 6, Mr Adutwum said all Primary Four students in Ghana will be the first batch to undergo the just introduced initiative.

Commenting on the announcement, IFEST said to achieve these important objectives, the sanctity and validity of the NSAT should not be questionable. 

“Hence, it will be important for adequate planning and broader consultations to be carried out to ensure an almost flawless implementation of the maiden NSAT. We, therefore, propose that the Agency in charge of curriculum and assessment is made to play a pivotal role in the implementation of the maiden NSAT. 

“While we are not oblivious of the enormity of work involved in organising such a national test which might make the West African Examination Council (WAEC) the default choice, it is our considered opinion that the NSAT should be spearheaded by NaCCA with WAEC as the collaborating agency,” IFEST stated.

IFEST said this will strengthen the institutional capacity of NaCCA and position it to be able to oversee future national examinations. 

The education think tank said allowing NaCCA to spearhead the NSAT is in sync with the objective of the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project which is to build the capacity of participating agencies. 

“We believe the Ministry should be guided by this commitment to implement GALOP to its fullest,” IFEST stressed.