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PASSAGE − III
For some time now, accountability has become the buzzword in school education. Everyone seems to have suggestions about ‘fixing1 education by holding teachers accountable for student test scores. But we should ask ourselves whether test scores are the only way to assess how well education systems are performing; whether teachers are the only ones to blame for low performing systems and whether ‘blame1 itself is the right approach at all, UNESCO’s new Global Education Monitoring Report 2017-18, is a comprehensive and nuanced look at the role of accountability in global education systems in the effort to achieve the vision of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and to promote lifelong learning. The report points out that providing universal quality education depends not on the performance of teachers alone, but is the shared responsibility of several stakeholders: governments, schools, teachers, parents, the media and civil society, international organisations and the private sector. It does indeed take an entire village. Teachers, doing a complex and difficult job against many odds, are only one rung in the complex chain that makes up the education system. Hence, it is both unfair and short-sighted to turn every discussion of the performance of education system s into a blame game and fix responsibility only on teachers, disproportionately, for poor test scores and absenteeism. Using poor test scores to punish teachers is a bad idea for many reasons, including the risk that it might result in teachers simply teaching ‘to the test1. Teaching to the test is never a good way forward for any education system: examination scores by themselves are an inadequate way of assessing the complex process of teaching and learning. Not only does an exclusive focus on test scores have the risk of leaving weaker students behind, it also leaves academically better-performing students with a narrow understanding of what education is all about. As for teacher absence, very often the reasons for this are beyond the teachers’ own control. It is unfair to hold them responsible for factors that are not in their hands, e.g. nearly half of teacher absenteeism in Indonesia in one year was due to excused time for study, during which substitutes should have been provided. If the larger problem is of teacher shortages, perhaps it is time to talk of accountability with a constructive focus on the role of each stakeholder in the education system.
For some time now, accountability has become the buzzword in school education. Everyone seems to have suggestions about ‘fixing1 education by holding teachers accountable for student test scores. But we should ask ourselves whether test scores are the only way to assess how well education systems are performing; whether teachers are the only ones to blame for low performing systems and whether ‘blame1 itself is the right approach at all, UNESCO’s new Global Education Monitoring Report 2017-18, is a comprehensive and nuanced look at the role of accountability in global education systems in the effort to achieve the vision of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and to promote lifelong learning. The report points out that providing universal quality education depends not on the performance of teachers alone, but is the shared responsibility of several stakeholders: governments, schools, teachers, parents, the media and civil society, international organisations and the private sector. It does indeed take an entire village. Teachers, doing a complex and difficult job against many odds, are only one rung in the complex chain that makes up the education system. Hence, it is both unfair and short-sighted to turn every discussion of the performance of education system s into a blame game and fix responsibility only on teachers, disproportionately, for poor test scores and absenteeism. Using poor test scores to punish teachers is a bad idea for many reasons, including the risk that it might result in teachers simply teaching ‘to the test1. Teaching to the test is never a good way forward for any education system: examination scores by themselves are an inadequate way of assessing the complex process of teaching and learning. Not only does an exclusive focus on test scores have the risk of leaving weaker students behind, it also leaves academically better-performing students with a narrow understanding of what education is all about. As for teacher absence, very often the reasons for this are beyond the teachers’ own control. It is unfair to hold them responsible for factors that are not in their hands, e.g. nearly half of teacher absenteeism in Indonesia in one year was due to excused time for study, during which substitutes should have been provided. If the larger problem is of teacher shortages, perhaps it is time to talk of accountability with a constructive focus on the role of each stakeholder in the education system.
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