LAHORE: Punjab’s government schools must now give pupils a 10-minute test every day on the previous day’s lesson and a full assessment every month, under instructions issued by the Directorate of Public Instruction weeks after a slump in the province’s Class 9 results.
Schools must keep up-to-date, student-by-student records of monthly results and track each pupil’s subject-wise school-based assessment (SBA) marks alongside the monthly tests. The aim, according to the directorate, is to monitor progress and catch learning gaps early.
Chief executive officers of the district education authorities are responsible for monitoring compliance and must submit compliance reports. The Secretary School Education will also check assessment registers during field visits.
The order follows a poor showing in this year’s board examinations. The Lahore board’s Class 9 pass rate fell to 46.51 percent, and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif later ordered action over weak Class 9 results in government schools.
Short, frequent checks of understanding are widely used in school systems that have improved learning outcomes, and the approach shifts attention away from cramming for a single end-of-year exam. Coverage of the plan has said teachers worry about the added grading workload on top of their syllabus.
The instructions do not say whether extra time, training or materials will be given to teachers, how the daily results will be recorded, or what will happen to schools whose registers fall short.
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