Enhancing Performance on National Exams: A Review of the Liberian Education System

• In Event: Poster session 2

Proposal

After 14 years of civil war and the Ebola outbreak in 2014, Liberia’s education system has suffered tremendous setbacks, including many challenges around both access and quality. These factors have resulted in challenges for the Liberian students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) exam. The WASSCE is a regional exam administered to students at the 9th and 12th grade levels across countries in West Africa (“WASSCE”, n.d). The exam evaluates student performance in English, integrated science, mathematics, social studies, as well as optional elective subjects. Of the students who took the WASSCE during the 2017-2018 academic year, more than 65% failed (“Liberia: Over 65 percent of students fail WASSCE - Apanews.net,” n.d.). To confirm students’ lack of college readiness, in 2015, 25,000 students took the University of Liberia entrance exam and none of them passed, resulting in a 100% failure rate (Ministry of Education, 2016). Improving these test scores stems from the government’s aim to achieve educational sustainability and quality which is a step towards achieving goal number 4 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

This policy paper explores a series of factors that potentially affect student performance on these exams. The paper will argue that investment in teacher training and professional development and curriculum reform are crucial to achieve to improve student performance on the standardized exams. Furthermore, the paper will provide policy level advice and research into sustainable mechanisms to improve exam performance and results. A critical analysis would be conducted to review the impact of interventions, to improve performance at a national level. Readers will be offered cost-effective suggestions for programs to implement in order to improve educational outcomes on a provincial and national level. These suggestions stem not only from academic literature but also from empirical research via interviews, discussions and focus groups that will be conducted on-ground in Liberia.

The paper could also be used not only within the education space in Liberia but also in the context of other West African countries seeking to improve performance on the WASSCE, as well as other central board exams. The advice could thereafter be broadened for application in other African nations, or developing countries facing learning challenges on a national on a provincial level.

The purpose of the research is to analyze how the Liberian Ministry of Education can increase the pass rate on the WASSCE exam. However, the paper will go a step further by developing a framework that works towards educating the whole child and enables students to acquire skills and competencies of the 21st Century through curriculum reform, teacher training and professional development.

The comprehensive roadmap of sustainable performance improvement mechanisms will be presented in the concluding section of the paper. The key focus of the research will be to suggest sustainable suggestions that make a long-term impact in the education sphere.

Authors

• Judit Llavina Serra, Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Komal Thakkar, The Fletcher School

• Jannate Sebbah Temsamani, Jara Worldwide / Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Ghazi Taimoor Mirza, Harvard Graduate School of Education