Was the 2021 National Standardized Test for Basic Four held, Mr. Education Minister?

Was the 2021 National Standardized Test for Basic Four held, Mr. Education Minister? Was it canceled or it has been administered already? I do not think so and  I stand corrected.

In June 2021 at the launch of the 21st National Education Week, the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum hinted that all basic four pupils across the nation were to write the maiden edition of the National Standardized Test.  Subsequent information indicated the examination was to be administered by the West Africa Examination Council.

Sadly, we are in December, and the Ministry of Education (MoE), The Ghana Education Service (GES), the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), and Teacher Unions in Ghana are all quiet about this.

How can we continue to attempt to benchmark best practices in theory and speeches and when it comes to implementation we are never perfect.

One of the biggest mistakes in initiating the implementation of this program was to decide that WAEC should administer this examination when we knew very well that that was not possible given that,  WAEC had to conduct the BECE and NOV/DEC in November-December 2021 which will make it impossible for them to harness available resources for the examination.

From where I sit, another reason why the examination has not been administered is the lack of planning. The talk big and good to feel fine approach to leadership at the Ministry must be given a second look. It is important that as leaders, planning becomes an integral part of not only what we do but also what we tell our followers. Failing to plan is indeed planning to fail.

“A national standardized test which has been done in Singapore and other places is going to be a reality under the watch and leadership of President Akufo-Addo.” Five months and counting, we are still nowhere near the implementation.

In June 2021, the Minister of Education added that “The NST reflects increasing globalization and interest in the global mandate and that it represents an overall shift in emphasis in assessing the quality of education inputs to learning outcomes,”

In the heat of the excitement, Ghanaians were told the Ministry of Education was developing a dashboard that will give MoE access to evaluate the attendance and performance of both teachers and students in every Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assembly. Is the Dashboard ready? If yes why have we not heard about it?

Today, we are still where we are because we failed to take the right steps to make the National Standardized Test for Basic Four pupils a reality. One would have expected that the silence of the GES and the MoE on the matter will be interrupted by the teacher unions led by GNAT, NAGRAT and CCT-GH sadly, they have all hibernated sd they battle the “Wahala” of the One Teacher One Laptop.

It is time leaders of the country and at all levels take our education sector seriously and by extension take this nation and its people more serious. We as citizens must hold leaders accountable for promises, policies, and projects. All the noise about the National Standardized Test for Basic Four ended now where. Technically, there is no way the Ministry of Education can organize the test in 2021.

This is not too good for the Minister and his ministry. If you cannot do it, don’t be quick to promise or reveal it until you have planned and put in place systems that will help ensure the effective implementation of the programme.

Source: Wisdom Hammond | Ghanaeducation.org

In an inter