BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
Academicians believe that providing national exit exams test students’ learning outcomes and academic efficiency and pave ways to generate competent and competitive human capital. It is also an important tool to ensure that students have acquired the knowledge and skills necessary for further education or employment. Further, it helps to measure higher education institutions’ educational quality, instill prudent practical actions to address the gaps in ensuring quality education. Through time, exit exams could impact positively on a country’s human development index by promoting quality education.
As Ethiopia is preparing to provide online university exit exams for prospective graduates of public and private universities this coming July, The Ethiopian Herald approached Competency and Quality Improvement Desk Head with the Ministry of Education Seid Mohammed to clarify the progress made so far and why the Ministry is engaged in such intensive tasks. Responding to the importance he said that the exams help to assess students’ learning capacity as exit exams provide a standardized way to measure student learning and academic achievement.
The Ministry’s decision to provide a national exit exam comes because of a number driving dire problems in the education ecosystem. One is graduates’ incompetency and the other reason is the poor governance in the education sector. ensuring quality education through practical approaches and holding public and private institutions accountable. The move will open opportunities to sort out higher learning institutions with outstanding performance, he added.
The Ministry holds exit exams to assess the outcome of learning at national level whether or not all undergraduate students have mastered the knowledge and skills that are necessary for success in their chosen fields. It also leads to holding colleges and universities accountable for the quality of education they provide. Institutions that consistently produce students who perform well on exit exams are likely to be providing high-quality education, while institutions with consistently poor performance on exit exams may need to make changes to improve the quality of their education.
Providing exit exams is not a new practice in the education ecosystem, he said, referring to law and medical graduates who have been sitting for exit exams. “What makes this initiative special is, all programs will undergo national exit exams. We set a plan to provide the national exit exam for an estimated two hundred thousand public and private prospective undergraduates.” The Ministry has also been sensitizing the issue to create informed leadership, students as well as parents to work on established legal ground. He noted that the exit exam will be administered at the premises of higher education facilities online to make sure its integrity. To expedite the effort, the Ministry has identified over thirty four thousand internet connected computers.
Earlier, authorities advised both public and private colleges to prepare themselves with the necessary infrastructure required to administer the exam online. The Ministry is working with pertinent stakeholders and higher education institutions, professional associations, students unions of respective higher education institutions among others. Ethio telecom and Ethiopia Information Network Security Administration (INSA) as well as Ethiopia Electric utility are working along with the Ministry, he underlined.
Preparing for an exit exam requires a combination of effective study strategies, active learning and practice, collaboration with peers and guidance from faculty and staff. By following these strategies and utilizing available resources and support systems, students can maximize their chances of success on the exams and demonstrate their knowledge and skills to potential employers and graduate programs.
“The epicenter of Ethiopia’s education ecosystem will focus on ensuring quality through putting a number of instruments in the reform. The Ministry holds exit exams can play an important role in improving a country’s human development index by promoting quality education and ensuring that students are prepared for success in their chosen field, the Ministry will keep on providing exit exams. The Ministry will keep on ensuring that all prospective graduating students meet a common standard,” he remarked.
Ethiopia will keep on investing in quality education and promoting the use of exit exams because it aspires to build more prosperous and equitable societies, and ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to reach their full potential. The first exit exam for undergraduate students of Ethiopian universities will be administered in June, it was learnt.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 2 JUNE 2023
