An Assessment of Examination Procedures Administered by Punjab Examination Commission in Primary and Elementary Schools of District Faisalabad

Abstract

Education is important in society's political, social, and economic development. Education is a basic ingredient of human development. Education is an individual's fundamental right, and it plays a key role in personality improvement. Early years are very important in human life. Keeping this in mind, the educationists have developed a separate curriculum and examination system for early childhood education. Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) is an independent body created by the Punjab Government in 2005 to examine 5th and 8th standard students. The objectives of this study were to examine the PEC's functionality, the respondents' awareness level about the PEC, the advantages and disadvantages of the PEC system, and the effects of PEC examinations. The population for the study was 249 teachers randomly selected from 20 schools in the district of Faisalabad. A random sampling technique was used to select a sample from the population. The population for this study was all elementary and primary schools in the Faisalabad district, and data were collected from primary and elementary school teachers. A well-structured questionnaire was used as a research tool. The sample size of 151 had been determined with a 95% confidence level and 5% confidence interval. Respondents were given a questionnaire according to objectives, and SPSS software was utilized to examine the questions. The findings revealed that the majority of the respondents “awareness level for exams for Primary and Elementary classes” (3.51±1.53) and “conducting examinations by Punjab examination commission is trying to improve literacy rate in Punjab” (3.92±1.65). Furthermore, “result system of PEC can be utilized further” (4.72±1.54) is considered as an advantage of PEC, while “fair educational policy is required” (4.97±1.28) is considered as a disadvantage of PEC. It is suggested that it “encourages more learning and written practices” (4.95±1.34) as the usefulness of PEC.