The ‘iron gate’: high-stakes assessment at age 16 in Nepal and England

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Author
Davies, Dan
Date
2015Type
Article
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
ISSN
0305-7925
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In Nepal, the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) assessment taken by 16-year-olds at the end of Grade 10 of formal schooling performs a similar
function to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)
examination in England in that it summarises individual, school, district
and national achievement and acts as a filtering mechanism to the final
stage of schooling and, ultimately, higher education and the jobs market.
Both the SLC and GCSE examinations have come under criticism in
recent years, with some comparable issues arising, for example: (1) differences
in success rates between pupils in different socioeconomic circumstances,
types of school, genders and ethnic groups; (2) the role of
teacher-assessed coursework and associated accusations of bias; and (3)
the extent to which examination questions test recall, comprehension or
application. Based upon interviews with students, teachers, academics
and senior civil servants in Nepal, this paper draws comparisons
between the two systems.
Journal/conference proceeding
Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education;
Citation
Davies, D. (2015) 'The ‘iron gate’: high-stakes assessment at age 16 in Nepal and England', Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education
Collections
- Education Research [214]
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