Implication of Class-Based Assessment on Teachers: A Case Study

Abstract

In Fiji, assessment has always been guided by curriculum through examination and tests which merely enclosed students’ aptitude of recalling conception skills. Supplementary categories of skills like application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation are barely incorporated in the traditional appraisal. Some of the indispensable qualities are not included in the customary assessment system. This makes learners rely extremely on their memorization skill leading them to become helpless, deficient required excellence to contribute fruitfully to the society. The government of Fiji has a sensible vision for the stipulation of its education organization and has impartially arbitrated the Class-Based Assessment (CBA) aspirant for learners’ holistic development. CBA has been implemented in secondary schools in 2009, through a pilot project. This research reveals the current status of the implemented assessment scheme through a study of a group of teachers of secondary schools and CBA resource personnel’s from the Ministry of Education. It discusses the issues emerging from the arguments of the scholars regarding CBA and its potentiality in Fiji. Despite the popularity and wide acceptance of Class-Based assessment in the western countries and Fiji itself it has often been criticized for several reasons, most of them related to the utilitarian perspective and related ethical considerations. CBA seems to be very difficult to maintain within the stipulated time of teaching. It is difficult for the teachers to switch from summative assessment to formative one as it seems an extra assessment together with a final examination.