Evolutionary trajectories in school assessment systems: the case of Bhutan

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to trace the evolution of school assessment in Bhutan, briefly, as a background to considering the present and future school assessment issues especially as they relate to quality concerns and educational improvement in Bhutan. A benchmark for Bhutan, the National Educational Assessment (NEA) programme in Bhutan was inspired by a 2002 initiative in South Asia funded by the World Bank. In this paper, we address how the 2003 NEA was developed. Emerging issues are discussed including methods of reporting and the concept of “benchmarking” in three senses of that term. Technical issues are also addressed in the context of the desire to administer another comparative NEA in 2010. Out of these developments, the Bhutan Board of Examinations has developed ideas about expanding access to system-wide assessment data to different levels of stakeholders in order to achieve improvements. A 2x2 matrix is provided identifying four key questions around judgments of educational achievement at two key levels (system and school) within and between these levels. This matrix represents a model of the evolution of assessment in Bhutan. This paper should be of interest to education systems in developing countries that have undertaken or intend to undertake national educational assessment programmes.

Keywords:

• national assessment
• Bhutan
• history of assessment

Acknowledgement

This work was facilitated by an Australian Government award of an Endeavour Executive Fellowship to Dr Phub Rinchen from March to June 2009 at the University of New England, Australia.

Notes

1. Dzongkha is, with English, a national language of Bhutan.

2. “Bhutanized” here means that the previously India-centric curricula and support materials were (gradually) changed to reflect Bhutanese society rather than that of India.

3. This and several other sections in this paper draw heavily on the NEA report (RGoB, 2004).

4. The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

5. Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).