A total of one million, five hundred and forty-two thousand (1,542,000) pupils from private and public schools in the country have successfully written this year’s edition of the National Standardized Test (NST).

Of the number, 792,000 were primary four pupils while the remaining 750,000 were also from primary two in various public and private schools across the country.

The essence of the test is to ascertain the strength and weaknesses of the pupil in literacy and numeracy which are the foundational skills that are required for learning and effective teaching and learning.

Addressing the media after monitoring the NST in some selected schools in Accra, on Friday, the Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, praised all stakeholders who contributed in diverse ways towards the execution of the test.

Some of the schools visited were; the Adabraka cluster of schools, which includes the Nii Amugi Basic, All Saints Anglican, Calvary Methodist One, Two and Grey Memorial Junior High One Basic School.

The Education Minister said the government would do everything possible to ensure that the right interventions are put in place as a means of helping pupils with peculiar challenges identified after the test.

He indicated that the data acquired from the test would also go a long way to enhance planning for the right resources to be sought towards supporting any intervention measure that would be put in place for the pupils.

The Minister praised the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Ghana Education Service and other stakeholders for the roles played towards the successful conduct of the test across the country.

He indicated that after the results are released, a team would be put in place to come out with intervention packages for each child in their schools to take care of the challenges identified during the test.

The Director General of the GES, Dr. Eric Nkansah, who accompanied the Education Minister eulogised the teachers and other staff who contributed in diverse ways to ensure that the exercise was done successfully.

E-testing 

The Primary Two NST which took place a couple of days ago saw a total of 750,000 pupils across the country involving 18,000 public and private schools with 9000 Test Administrators assisting in the execution of the test with tablets provided by NaCCA.

The primary four tests were however written on paper by the pupils across the country last Friday.

Background

The Education Ministry in its bid to help find solutions to challenges confronting the education sector piloted the National Standardized Test in the country last year.

Last year’s edition saw pupils from all four primary pupils from public schools across the country taking part in the test.

The data gathered from the test assisted the government in planning and also finding the state of affairs at that level of education in the country.

This year, the Education Ministry created an opportunity for all private schools in the country to hook up to the exercise but some of them could not submit the needed input towards the test, leading to a few private schools being unable to participate in the test.