- Friday, 3 April 2026
Dr Byanjana Sharma
The new government under Prime Minister Balendra Shah or Balen has released its 100-point action plan, where different schemes are listed to be completed within 100 days. These actions are related to various fields and one of them is education. Among others, it highlights abolishing the formal examination system from the coming academic session for students in grades 1 to 5. The plan claims this will reduce academic pressure on young learners, which is absolutely true. However, there are a lot of reservations.
While I was reading the news, I started to reflect on my PhD days. When I first took my son to get admission in a primary school in Victoria, Australia, in 2008, he was in grade four. The first thing I noticed was that there were no textbooks at all, and secondly, they would not give formal examinations to primary level students. This kind of education system made me worried, as these two were the key elements of our education system. The other parents who had newly arrived in Australia, particularly from Asian countries, also shared the same feeling.
Examination system
These parental worries led me to conduct my PhD research on how literacy teaching and learning happen in primary schools in Victoria, Australia. This research drew a lot of invaluable information related to continuous learning and assessment. There is no doubt that the traditional examination system encourages students’ rote learning and it does not seem to be suitable in today’s world. Unfortunately, almost all of the Nepali parents and teachers have come from a background of the traditional education system, which considers a formal examination as the most effective way to assess learning outcomes.
The role of teachers is very important in implementing the things suggested by policymakers. For this, they must be qualified enough, well-trained and well-informed. The major questions here are: Are the teachers who teach in grades 1 to 5 capable of using the alternative evaluation system confidently? Do they have access to the resource materials that they need? Have they received enough training for this? Is continuous guidance available to them? The other chief stakeholder of education is parents. So, how will they take the governmental decision to abolish all sorts of internal examinations? Were they consulted before making the decision? Will they accept this normally? Such questions automatically arise in someone’s mind when it comes to trying something new.
Well, in principle, it is said that the formal examinations have already been abolished in grades 1 to 3. But what is in practice? Are teachers using the alternative techniques of evaluation in reality? Is there any strong follow-up mechanism? I do not think schools are seriously following the newly introduced system of no formal examinations, but continuous evaluation. In documentation, everything looks fine but on the ground level, the same traditional practice is being continued in most of the contexts. The most challenging part of abolishing internal examinations is its implementation throughout the country.
In urban areas, it may be possible if the schools try hard but in rural areas where students do not even have proper school buildings, classrooms or furniture, this sounds like a far cry. In such areas, the only resource material teachers have is a textbook and their ultimate evaluation method is formal examinations. I agree that primary level students do not need formal examinations, as they do not measure their real capacities. During this time, they are curious to learn many things. So, they must be exposed to different subject areas, which can make their learning interesting and enjoyable. In such a learning environment, gradually, teachers can identify students’ favourite subject areas, their talents or their inclinations. This helps teachers to encourage students to hone their strengths.
Even if this is the case, in the context of Nepal, introducing the new evaluation system abruptly may not achieve the expected results. There are several issues to address before implementing something new in classrooms. First of all, there must be an extensive research study including all the stakeholders, such as teachers, parents, students, curriculum designers or textbook writers and it must cover participants from all geographical regions. Their views guide the government to make wise decisions. Secondly, the concerned teachers must be trained in alternative ways of assessment and they must be provided with continuous guidance and support.
Sufficient resources
The schools must have sufficient resource materials; only having a textbook as their instructional material, teachers cannot implement an alternative evaluation system in their class. Among all, the most important factor is a regular and strong follow-up mechanism. The usual practice of teacher training in Nepal has seemed to be merely a formality so far. Teachers participate in such training programmes only for a salary increment, but not to bring positive changes in their teaching methods. They may be reluctant to use whatever they have learned due to the lack of follow-up. If they had been followed up regularly the situation of community schools would have improved a lot.
It is a natural phenomenon to resist something new in the beginning but if you cannot get away from it, you gradually start to accept it. If teachers realise that they will be going to be observed once they complete their training and go back to their classroom, they will obviously use the knowledge, skills or strategies that they have gained. Otherwise, they follow the same traditional method, which they find easy and comfortable. If everything works perfectly, then the abolition of formal paper-and-pencil tests in grades 1 to 5 sounds great. This gives students more room for enjoyable and exploratory learning.
(The author is the director of Vidya Shilpa Academy, Damak, Jhapa.)
