Seventy-six private schools have launched online learning for their students in compliance with the contingency measures undertaken by the Ministry of Education due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The schools harnessed all their capabilities to provide e-learning for their students via Google Class Room, Olive System, Modle, Plus Portals, Zoom and Classera .
Private Education Acting Director Amal Al-Kaabi said that the ministry had taken a string of measures to ensure learning continues for private school students during the closure.
Teachers deliver virtual lessons to their students and supply them with the weekly programme, in addition to extracurricular material, including videos and other activities.
Al-Kaabi said that the methods adopted by private schools to asses the performance of students of private schools differ according to their curricula and internal policies, and most of them are linked to international standards that must be taken into consideration, in addition to the difference in the number of classes as well as the dates they start.
She pointed out that evaluation of the performance of secondary school students differs from the assessment methods in other educational stages in most private private educational establishments.
She noted that international exams for the secondary stage have been either been canceled or postponed by the external parties, which are currently determining the evaluation criteria, including the International Baccalaureate Foundation that issues the IB certificate.
“These parties analyse students ’previous results, the school data for each subject in addition to the external correction by the institution to the students’ work”, she said, adding that the British examination institutions also work with private schools to clarify the evaluation criteria, which will be adopted based on available evidence.
As for schools applying the Indian and Pakistani curricula, whose school year ended during the suspension period (March 2020), they based their evaluation of grades (1-8) on the results of the first and the second semesters, in addition to the monthly exams for the third semester, after securing the ministry’s approval.
Many private schools that are not linked to international standards will assess students' grades for the second) or third semester, endorsing varied proportions of the quarterly and monthly exam scores before the school closure. They will also calculate the degrees of short calendars, activities, homework and projects during the distance learning period.
Another group of private schools have submitted their proposals to the Ministry of Education regarding the mechanism of students’ evaluation, to be studied and accredited.
SOURCE: ALBILADENGLISH