ABU DHABI // High rates of absenteeism, curriculum changes and late delivery of textbooks are being blamed for pupils’ poor performance in their Grade 12 examinations.
Abu Dhabi Education Council did not publicly release aggregate results from the exams, issued to Grade 12 public school pupils at the end of the first semester of the academic year. But, the grades “are not promising”, the council said yesterday.
Adec was “well aware of the drop in examination grades” shortly after they were taken, then contacted school leaders and discussed reasons for the decline, the council said.
“After several meetings with school leaders and cluster managers, it was deduced that the drop was due to a number of factors, some of which included late attendance or high absence levels amongst those particular students who did not pass, a change in the Cycle 3 curriculum and in the way science as a stream should be perceived, and late book arrivals to schools during Trimester 1, which was beyond Adec’s control.”
Adec had introduced sweeping reforms to the public high school curriculum that eliminated the humanities stream and increased science education.
Pupils were given the choice between studying advanced or general levels of maths and science. Electives could be chosen from science subjects including physics, chemistry, biology and Earth sciences.
Adec trained more than 12,000 teachers and school leaders in August on the new curriculum, which was introduced in public high schools that month.
The pupils’ exam performance indicates that more teacher training is needed, Adec said. It is planning to offer more professional development workshops.
“Students will also be given extra guidance and assistance if deemed necessary,” the council said. “Teachers will be offered classroom-level assistance, and curriculum experts will offer peer tutoring and assistance.”
Adec said textbooks have been distributed to schools on time this semester “to avoid similar examination results”.
Dr Ali Al Nuaimi, director general of Adec, was interviewed on Tuesday by Oloum Al Dar news channel about the exams.
“Unfortunately, the results were not satisfactory and did not turn out as we expected them to be,” he said.
“But they are real results and that makes all the difference, for we now know exactly where our educational reality stands and the reality of the outputs of our educational system.
“That will enable us to respond to this reality in a manner that will rectify those weak points and fill the gaps, instead of ignoring those matters and brush them off matter of factly.”
He said some are asking Adec to simplify the tests.
“In no way may I simplify tests,” Dr Al Nuaimi said. “We want students to complete grade 12 and begin their higher education with skills, competencies and capabilities that enable them to continue their journey to success.
“We cannot deal with students who have weaknesses that way and let them remain weak, and tell them that they will succeed, and fool the parents, and fool the students, and fool the leadership. No.”
Adec wants to identify students who are facing difficulties and who need extra support, he said.
“We will not succeed unless we change the culture prevailing in our society. We cannot give the students easy tests.
“We will give them tests that are based on the educational outcomes and standards required, enabling graduating students to succeed, whether to join a higher education institution or to join the job market.”
Dr Karima Almazroui, Adec’s P-12 acting executive director, said Adec has taken steps to improve pupils’ academic performance, such as more stringent attendance regulations.
“Education is a collaborative effort amongst us as the education council, alongside school leaders, teachers, parents and students,” she said.
The 14,672 Grade 12 pupils who wrote the exams were able to access their test results online on Tuesday through Adec’s private online student information system.
rpennington@thenational.ae