Kadjebi (O/R), Dec 22, GNA-The maiden National Standardized Test, involving the testing of basic four pupils in numeracy and literacy, has been largely successful in the Kadjebi District.
About 1,814 pupils, representing 95.5 per cent from 67 public schools wrote the examination out of the 1,900 pupils targeted in the District.
Some 86 pupils were absent from the examination, which took place in 11 centres.
Mr Christopher Agorkle, the Kadjebi District Examination Officer, disclosed these to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Kadjebi.
He said that out of 1,814 pupils who wrote the examination, 1,624 pupils were transported to the various centres.
Mr Agorkle said although the test has been a novelty, he observed a shortage of examination materials in some centres, no orientation for Examination Officers and no security bags for examination materials.
He said other shortcomings include late arrival of examination materials, shortage of question papers and scannable sheets and no attendance sheets for candidates to sign.
He observed that “almost all pupils did not have any knowledge about shading their responses on the objective scannable forms,” adding this appeared quite traumatic for them.
The Examination Officer recommended that one square meal be provided to pupils in subsequent exercise.
He suggested pupils circle correct answers instead of using scannable forms and extra depot created at Dodi-Papase Senior High School to tackle some of the challenges encountered during the examination.
Mr Agorkle said, “the test is a novelty and every novel idea comes with its own challenges.”
He expressed the hope that the concerns raised by other Examination Officers would be taken into consideration to improve subsequent tests.
GNA