Education: None of the 88 lower secondary schools made it to the list of the country’s top 40 performing schools in the 2014 academic year, according to education ministry’s school performance assessment report.

Annual rankings of schools are declared at four levels of schools from PP to III (primary); IV to VI (primary); VII to X (middle secondary) and XI to XII (higher secondary.)

The list of top 40 includes 14 primary schools, seven middle secondary schools and 13 higher secondary schools. Six of these schools have topped in more than one level.

Among the top 40 are 10 schools that have maintained their position as the country’s top performing schools for the last three years.

All 341 schools across the country are assessed and ranked through the performance management system (PMS). Education monitoring and support services division  (EMSSD) officials said, PMS is a tool to measure and continuously improve performance of schools in various areas.

An EMSSD official however, said that it was not right to judge a school’s performance, if it didn’t make it to the top 40.

“It doesn’t mean that schools are performing poorly,” the official said. “It means more schools are performing better, because of better monitoring and regular coaching.”

Education officials said that more schools could be making it to the top 40 list because schools might be giving better marks to students in continuous assessment (CA) to score higher in academic performance criteria. “It gives us a room to visit these schools and look into the CA system,” the official said.


Toppers for last three years

Ugyen Academy HSS
Punakha HSS

Lhuntse HSS

Drukgyel HSS

Nangkhor HSS

Bayling HSS

Rangjung HSS

Jigme Sherubling HSS

Kidheykhar MSS

Dungtse MSS

The PMS measurement tool comprises school performance scorecards, school self-assessment and annual school improvement plan.  The school performance scorecards further include academic learning scorecard, quality enabling practices and GNH scorecards.

EMSSD officials said, quality-enabling scorecard, which is assessed by dzongkhag education officers (DEO), measures effectiveness of critical processes and practices of school management, quality of teaching and training, infrastructure, and effectiveness of planning processes.

The GNH scorecard, also assessed by DEOs twice a year, measures achievement on GNH values and practices in schools.

While the academic learning scorecard measures school performance in students’ academic outcome.  It is assessed by EMSSD at the beginning of each academic year, taking into account the school’s performance in the previous year.

The school self-assessment enables schools to identify areas of improvement and set targets for each academic year, while the annual school improvement plan is designed to facilitate schools to prepare action plan to achieve the desired improvements.

The academic learning scorecard for classes III, VI, and performance in classes X and XII board examinations determine annual school rankings, EMSSD officials said.

By Nirmala Pokhrel

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