Monitoring Student Progress in Mathematics and Science

In addition to international assessments of student achievement, methods of monitoring student progress include classroom-based assessment, school-level assessment, and external national examinations. Classroom assessments are more formative and related to the ongoing process of learning in the classroom, while higher-level assessments like national examinations are summative.

Teachers and schools monitor the progress of individual students through quizzes, topic tests, end-of-term tests, and mock examinations. Teachers use these classroom-based assessments to make decisions about instruction, and to assist student learning. At the end of each term, schools administer end-of-term tests, and prepare reports on subjects and share them with parents. Occasionally, parents are invited to schools to review the reports and discuss their child’s progress with teachers. Remedial programs are offered under school supervision.

Schools also are assessed to monitor the progress of students indirectly through school heads and teachers. Occasionally, personnel from the Ministry of Education and Skills Development will visit schools to assess teachers on their delivery of the curriculum. Ministry personnel assess teachers on content, methodologies of content delivery, evaluation, and resources utilized in delivering content to students. Teachers often attend workshops focused on empowering them to deliver the curriculum effectively. This is meant to ensure that the responsibility for student success rests not only with students but with schools as well.

Throughout their formal schooling, students take several national examinations, which provide a basis for selection to higher levels of education. For example, the Standard Four Attainment Test is administered at the end of Grade 4, covering mathematics and the Setswana and English languages, to assess learning progress so that appropriate action (e.g., retaining or promoting a child to the next grade) may be taken after consultation with parents. The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) taken at the end of Grade 7 by students at both private and government schools provides a diagnostic assessment of students’ strengths and weaknesses. At the end of Grade 10, students take the Junior Certificate Examination (JCE), and are selected for senior secondary school based on their results. Those who do not qualify for senior secondary school may take a vocational education path, or enter into the employment sector. Similarly, the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE), taken at the end of Grade 12, is used to select students for entrance to universities, colleges of education, and other tertiary institutions.

Student progression is based on assessment at all levels, and up to 12.5 percent of students in a class who do not meet the baseline standard are allowed to repeat the grade.²⁰