Do you think having a national test is a good way to measure the students?
By hari1111
@hari1111 (238)
New Zealand
August 19, 2010 10:58pm CST
Some countries have national exams that are created by an external examiner. Everyone takes the same exams.
Here in New Zealand we have this thing called NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement). Here we have 3 levels for the 3 senior years of high school.
You can get your certificate in 3 awards.
NCEA with achievement
NCEA with Merit
NCEA with Excellence
I think this a good system. This gives the students a benchmark of how well they are doing. Each year they release the statistics for each year. This shows how many people got endored with achievement, merit and excellence.
Having an endorsement also looks good on your CV and possibly could give you preferential entrance into university.
I think it is a good system that should be implemented in every country.
Sadly this would not work in every country (especially with corruption which could further harm the reputation of a countries education system)
What do you guys think?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@jerikjames (1041)
• Philippines
20 Aug 10
We also have that here in the Philippines. And like you, I also think it's a great system for the government to measure the students' achievements. Although a lot would say that the system is not apt to really know the capacity of the students. It's true though, but I think the goal of the system, is to know how much the students are learning in school, and if the education system is working or not.
@hari1111 (238)
• New Zealand
20 Aug 10
Ironically i am from the philippines! I dont remember there being one for highschool.
Here NCEA is your grades basically. All tests are towards NCEA. Unlike the Ph where you have post tests then quarter exams and such. Then an average is taken.
Here it is a credit system.
I don't know much about the system in the philippines, all I can say is it did not help me get into the level I wanted to enter when i moved here.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
22 Aug 10
It is not the worst idea in the world. However, there is just so much that can go wrong with it. There are some schools who have better levels of education than other schools. Obviously, trying to find a test that will give a fair chance to grade is not as easy as it sounds. For one school, it could be easy, but for another school, it would essentially be as hard as pulling teeth.
Then again, it could show what schools and what areas need more support. There are some valuable points to be made. If one school is behind, then they should get the help. If they are thrown underneath the bus, the only people that are going to suffer are the students. It is really something that can be horrifying to say the very least but still it would be an idea. However, its not for every country out there like you said.
