Qualifications in Seychelles' public secondary schools |12 January 2011

For instance, much of the work done in the latter part of the 1980s, notably the Creighton Consultation Report of 1988 and the deliberations of the sub-committee on assessment in 1991, were seminal in paving the way for the introduction of the Ordinary Level General Certificate of Education (or O-level) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (or IGCSE) offered by the University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate (UCLES) at the then National Youth Service.

The IGCSE qualification was shortlived, though, and was replaced by the O-level in a number of academic subjects, which lasted up to 1998. Before its closure, the City and Guilds certificate was also introduced for students taking technical and vocational subjects such as masonry, carpentry and plumbing.

One of the issues at the time was that alongside the international examinations there was also a national examination that ran in tandem and obviously, because the latter was a wholly local initiative, it was undervalued as a currency compared to the international qualification.

Another issue was that students had to take a battery of selection tests, normally held in April of the final year of secondary, to qualify to sit the O-levels in November of the same year.

This had very serious implications as a good number of students took the selection tests, then the O-levels and then the national examinations in the space of eight months.

Psychologically, this put tremendous pressure on students as these tests commanded a high stake, and from a pedagogical point of view the emphasis was more on coaching and drilling students to pass these tests rather than on providing an enriched environment for teaching and learning.

It was in recognition of such issues that extensive consultations began in 2003, both locally among educators and internationally between the Ministry of Education and UCLES. By 2004, the scene was set for the reintroduction of IGCSE and Delf Scolaire as the sole qualifications at secondary, replacing both the O-levels and the national examinations.

This had some positive impact. For instance, as the O-levels typically targeted the top 20% of any one student group, the IGCSE and Delf examinations opened the door for many more students to access internationally recognised qualifications at the end of the secondary schooling.
Delf, for example, had different tiers (A1, A2, B1, and B2) which students of different ability levels could access. In most IGCSE subjects there was a core level and an extended level where students of different ability levels could gain a grade G up to an A*.

Another obvious positive impact was the fact that the ministry could ill-afford to sustain the dual examination system that was in place. Many students who were borderline cases at the time of the selection tests simply missed out on obtaining an internationally recognised qualification altogether. In a nutshell, the dual system of examination was deficient, as stated earlier, and also in terms of missed opportunities.

With the publication of the first results in 2005, it was clear that the decision to switch to IGCSE and Delf was one in the right direction. Table 1 provides the average number of students registered for O-levels between 1999 and 2004 and for IGCSE/Delf for the period between 2005 and 2009 for different subjects.

From this table it can be seen that, indeed, the number of students taking international examinations by the end of secondary increased significantly. For example, for combined science the number increased by more than five times, for English and French the figure more than doubled, and in mathematics it more than tripled.

One might argue also that because of the increased access, the quality of performance in terms of higher grades obtained suffered as a consequence.

Table 2 provides both the overall pass rates and the percentage of students obtaining a grade C or higher for 2004, the last year for the O-levels, for 2005, the year IGCSE was reintroduced, and for 2009, representing the fifth year of its administration.

This has been done in subjects where it appears fairer to make such comparisons. For example, it is generally acknowledged that the English as second language examination places lower demands on students than the O-level English examination, and as such it would not make sense to compare the two here.
 

If one looks at Table 2, it can be seen that the pass rate was almost the same in 2004 and 2005 for art and design, and combined science, and there was almost a 25 point drop in mathematics.

More significantly, though, was the glaring differences in the percentage of students scoring a grade C or higher in 2004 compared to 2005 across the subjects. This was to be expected as it is almost always the case that the quality of performance appears to drop when access is widened.

However, in 2009 the pass rate was better in most cases when compared to both years and the percentage of students scoring a grade C almost doubled that of 2005, even if it is yet to reach the 2004 level in art and design, combined science and geography.

It is worth noting also that a good number of teachers have benefited from professional development workshops led by the Ministry of Education, UCLES and Alliance Française in the case of Delf since 2005, thus contributing to the overall improvement in 2009.

Even if the progress might not be as fast as one would wish, it would be fair to presume that with an improved teaching and learning environment in schools, more commitment by students and proper support by the ministry, parents, and the wider community, the quality of grades obtained by students will improve further.
 
Nevertheless, as the current reforms begin to reshape the educational landscape, there is a call for the qualification system at secondary level to be revisited. For instance, students who are interested in the technical and vocational areas are not benefiting as much as one would like as there is no examination system in place from which they could access equally valued and appealing qualifications.

These students represent a majority in our education system. There is hope, though. The setting-up of the Seychelles Qualifications Authority and the drawing-up of a National Qualifications Framework could not have been timelier, and this could perhaps hold the key to the design and introduction of a comprehensive and high-quality assessment and certification system at secondary level, which will truly cater for all students regardless of ability and interest.

contributed by the Department of Education