Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Around 521 Private Schools have registered for the 5th grade assessment with the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Peshawar (BISEP).

The novel step was undertaken by the provincial government to evaluate the knowledge and learning skills of the students of class five of government and private schools.

However, large number of private school owners, teachers and parents has already rejected the step of BISEP. They and threatened to hold protest demonstrations if Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government implemented the new system.

Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Peshawar Chairman Muhammad Shafi Afridi said that the new system will bring uniformity and equality among private and government schools.

He said that at the government schools level, the grade five assessments were much appreciated and this time the government had decided to extend it in the private sector schools.

”The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa intended to bring uniformity in the education system through its grade 5 assessment. This initiative begun in 2014-15 through assessment of grade five students across the province and will continue till 2017 and finally will be converted in an examination in 2018,” he said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) Department is determined to strengthen the role of private school sector through its private school Regulatory Authority.

521 private schools within Peshawar, with almost 17,000 students have been registered with the BISE for grade 5 assessments.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government initiated the universal examination of grade 5th students in selective government schools in 2014 to evaluate the knowledge and learning skills of students and keep a check on teachers’ performance.

However, in 2015, the primary examination system for grade-5 extended to all districts and this experience yielded positive results beyond expectations.

Now the government wishes to extend this practice to the private schools but the proposal was largely rejected by the private school owners.

The BISEP Chairman added that that the purpose of the proposal was to improve teaching and learning process by moving away from rote learning to conceptual understanding and applications which will help our students compete and excel in the modern world.