An Analysis of the Secondary School Certificate Examination: The Case of Creative Questions

Abstract

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination is arguably the most important public examination in Bangladesh with its results affecting students in a number of ways, including access to higher education and future job opportunities. A number of previous studies have looked at this examination from various perspectives, analysing specific areas within the examination and within different subjects. However, these researches have not extensively focused on critically analysing this examination and the assessment activities related to it. The lack of research-based knowledge is particularly worrying with the current SSC examination protocol in which Creative Questions have been introduced a few years ago. This chapter analyses the SSC examination, taking into consideration the existing system of assessment in Bangladesh in light of contemporary theory and practice of assessment. After providing a contextual understanding of the SSC examination, various aspects of this assessment – validity, reliability, comparability, standard setting, grading, and bias – are critically discussed with reference to widely accepted assessment theories. Existing studies on SSC examination are reviewed to assess and highlight different aspects of the current situation based on the assessment theories. A number of issues in the existing practice (e.g. construct under-representation, inappropriate assessment condition, marker error, and coarseness of grading) are identified as well as measures for improvement suggested. The theoretical and practical issues discussed in this chapter endeavour to provide insights into education policymakers in shaping the SSC examination for future years.