IBCC Holds Constructive Discussion To Advance Exam & Assessment System

The Inter Boards Coordination Commission (IBCC), in its 178th meeting on Tuesday, held a constructive discussion on improving quality and effectiveness of the examination & assessment processes

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Feb, 2024) The Inter Boards Coordination Commission (IBCC), in its 178th meeting on Tuesday, held a constructive discussion on improving quality and effectiveness of the examination & assessment processes.

The forum, which met here at the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, discussed pressing issues in the realm of examination and assessment, fostering a shared commitment to continuous improvement, a news release said.

The IBCC approved the guidelines for recognizing qualifications for equivalence offered by foreign qualification-awarding bodies in Pakistan.

While discussing discontinuation of choice in the question paper, the forum decided that each question of Section B and Section C might be given with an alternative within the same cognitive domain, difficulty level not compromising the SLOs (Student Learning Outcomes).

To facilitate the students in the early issuance of final certificates of SSC and HSSC, it was decided that every member board would issue final certificates within six months of the declaration of results.

Moreover, to provide ease in the attestation of documents it was decided to connect all BISEs/BTEs with IBCC attestation portal for online verification of records.

The align with university admissions and to prevent any inconvenience for the migrating students, the forum resolved that all BISEs would follow a uniform academic calendar by starting papers of SSC in the first week of March and papers of HSSC in the first week of April from year 2025.

To create awareness among the youth for tolerance, knowledge, patience, and improvement of ethical behaviour with aim to eliminate the polarization and intolerance from the society, the Commission resolved to plan activities for the whole year in affiliated institutions of the member BISEs (Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education) and decided to mark the year 2025 for following the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).

A complete plan was shared with members of the forum for improvement of important areas of education, including standardization of curriculum framework, digital transformation by launching digital platform for examination, teacher training programmes for capacity building, innovative assessment methods, quality control and accountability through task force, inclusively and accessibility, feedback and evaluation systems, coping with academic dishonesty by implementing anti-cheating measures, student well-being through counseling programmes to save them from different evils including drugs, collaboration with international boards, environmental sustainability by implementing eco-friendly exam practices, research and development, and implementation of Pakistan Scholastics Aptitude Test (PSAT).

It was informed that the FBISE and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa boards had performed exceptionally in establishing their Question Item Banks.

However, it was noted that there was a need to establish a Centralized National Question Item Bank accessible to all education boards of Pakistan to ensure a standardized set of questions for uniform assessment.

The Commission decided to establish such a repository at IBCC level in order to maintain consistency in the difficulty level, format, and quality of questions across different boards, promoting fairness and equality in assessments.

"By using a centralized question bank, the variability in assessment content will be minimized ensuring that students from different boards are assessed on similar knowledge and skills, making the evaluation process more equitable," it noted.

The IBCC meeting concluded with a commitment to advancing examination and assessment reforms that align with the evolving needs of education globally.