Directorate of Product Development and Standards

Introduction

The Directorate of Product Development and Standards (PD&S) mandate is to direct the development and implementation of operational policies, strategies, processes and procedures for the development of examinations and assessments and operational documents and to ensure that appropriate quality and standards are maintained for school and any other examinations and assessments.  PD&S recognises that development of these has to be in strict compliance with education policies to promote quality education in Botswana in accordance with the Vision 2016 pillar of an Educated, Informed Nation.

The Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MOESD) is increasingly required to account for effectiveness of its educational programmes to a broad group of stakeholders. MOESD defines the learning outcomes, knowledge, skills and behaviours the learners have to acquire and develop at general education level. Based on these outcomes, PD&S designs and develops assessment and examination programmes to determine whether the intended outcomes are achieved as well as provide evidence on areas needing improvement based on analysis of the results. The examination data assists in determining learners’ levels of achievement. It is also used to determine whether the system is achieving its educational goals and can also be used to benefit curriculum development processes important for continuous improvement.

PDS Directorate Roles and Responsibilities

The Directorate’s roles and responsibilities include:

·         Planning, directing and managing the development and implementation of policies and strategies for the development of instruments and operational documents for the assessment of school programmes;

·         Designing, developing and initiating assessments for any other programmes in line with education policies to promote quality education in Botswana;

·         Set and maintain standards for school examinations by determining competencies and performance standards at each level of education and at each grade level;

·         Train examinations personnel;

·         Conduct validation studies to inform the product development process for purposes of continual development;

·         Monitor results and generate reports to provide feedback to stakeholders on the performance of candidates and the education system;

·         Liaise closely with MOE departments to ensure relevance of the examination to the goals of education;

·         Monitor trends in educational assessment to ensure that the Council keeps abreast with international standards.

PDS Documents

0611.schem of assessment.2012

0612.scheme of assessment.2012

0613.scheme of assessment.2012

2012 schemes of assessment draft letter to centres

BEC-PDS-P9 1-1 0 - JCE Grading

DT SCHEME OF ASSESSMENT 2012