Second Phase of Training to Develop Capacity of Balochistan Assessment Bodies Concludes

The Aga Khan University Examination Board (AKU-EB) concluded the second phase of training for the agreement that it has reached with the Government of Balochistan and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as part of the larger Balochistan Basic Education Programme funded by the European Union (EU). The training took place from July 5-14 in Karachi, and saw participants from Quetta travel to the city in order to attend. It centered around experiential learning, and saw participants engage themselves in the processes of both developing and reviewing examination items alongside AKU-EB academic staff members.

Participants were split into groups with the aim of maximising institutional diversity in some cases, and according to academic specialisation in others. The training covered Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), Constructed Response Questions (CRQs) and Extended Response Questions (ERQs) as different types of items that form an examination paper together, with each type being focused on for several days at a time. Each segment began with Observation Panels, during which participants observed AKU-EB academic team engage in their own item assessment process. This was followed by Review Panels, during which both AKU-EB academic team and participants from Balochistan worked together to review items that the latter group had designed earlier. Each segment was finally concluded with reflection and feedback sessions in order to solidify the learning process.

Abdul Malik, a Senior Subject Specialist in English at the Bureau of Curriculum, Balochistan, praised the systematic way in which the training proceeded. “Thanks to what we have learned, we will be able to better achieve our targets and also identify our missing gaps,” he said. “This will  help us plan better for the future. For instance, developing marking schemes and rubrics (which we did not do before) will help us eliminate bias and give our students their due rights. By increasing objectivity in marking, we will be able to make our results more valid.”

This training constituted one part of the larger agreement, titled “Consultancy services for capacity development and technical support to the Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission”, that sees AKU-EB take on a technical support and capacity development role for governmental assessment bodies in Balochistan, including the Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission (BAEC), the Bureau of Curriculum, Policy, Planning and Implementation Unit (PPIU), the Directorate of Schools, and the Professional Institute of Teacher Education (PITE).

Participants hailed the training as being engaging and fruitful, with many commenting that the techniques they had learned would be incorporated into the provincial assessment structure, and would coincide well with the development of Balochistan’s provincial curriculum. Others stated that the training provided an important platform to forge links between their various institutions, thus ensuring greater cooperation in the future. 

CEO, Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission (BAEC), Professor Saad Ullah Khan Tokhai, said that he was optimistic about the training’s effect on participants. “From what I have seen in terms of feedback given by the participants, as well as what I have noted myself, the second phase of this training has proven very fruitful,” he said. “Between the initial and final days of this period, I have observed a marked improvement in the effectiveness of the participants when using the assessment tools they have been trained with.”

Honourable Caretaker Minister, Education, Government of Balochistan, Dr Nasrullah Khilji​, Secretary Secondary Education, Balochistan, Noor ul Haq Baloch​, Additional Secretary Development and Focal Person, Policy, Planning and Implementation Unit (PPIU), Muhammad Jahangir Kakar; and Education Specialist, UNICEF, Palwasha Badar Jalalzai also visited AKU-EB in order to observe the training and provide the participants with words of encouragement. 

Two more trainings focusing on imparting best assessment practices to participants of the represented institutions are planned to be held this year, concluding in December.