Parents of students demand the abolition of the Achievement Test

The Achievement Test, which ninth-grade students take every year, has been opposed by parents. They have initiated action through a questionnaire to have it completely removed, arguing that it causes a burden on students. Education experts believe that parents have the right to demand better management of the test, but not its removal. They do not see the test itself as a problem, but the overall assessment method.

A questionnaire requesting the abolition of the Achievement Test for ninth-grade students has been circulating in communication groups among teachers and parents.

The questionnaire, initiated by the Parents' Council at the national level, was drafted at the request of the parents themselves and sent to the Ministry of Education in the form of a request.

The Parents' Council declined to comment on the matter, without receiving a response from the Ministry of Education. However, they told KOMA that the request to remove the test was made as a result of the high workload of students, who, according to them, are tested sufficiently during the school year.

And the Ministry of Education said that they are reviewing the request and that for any decision there will be consultations with institutions as well as parents.

"Parents are important stakeholders in improving the quality of education, a shared objective, and in decision-making on issues of common interest. Whenever a new decision is made regarding this issue, there will be institutional and social consultation, including parents, education experts and other stakeholders, always keeping in mind what is best for students and our education system," the Ministry's response states.

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Education expert Jonuz Salihaj believes that parents have the right to demand better management of the test, but not its removal.

"I support parents in freeing their children from what is called test mania, because our teachers have understood the digitalization of schools to participate as much as possible on the internet and to burden students with tests, but this does not force parents to protest, it is not good for them to protest against an external assessment that is legal," said Salihaj.

He said that the main concern of parents is related to the results shown in the test.

"If we have these good measuring instruments, if we have good administration, then it will never happen that a student who got all fives in lower secondary school will be equal to a student who had an average of 2 or 3," he said.

Another expert on education issues, Rinor Qehaja, also believes that the main problem lies in the lack of reliable internal evaluation in lower secondary schools.

"Those fives of many students are not necessarily an accurate criterion of the true knowledge of students. This is the big problem, which is why this orientation test was presented to us as a filter to help municipalities and high schools make the right selection. We know that it is not ideal, but until they find a new format for proper and meritocratic filtering of students, we need to have as many filters as possible to help the process," said Qehaja.

The Achievement Test is an assessment given to students at the end of compulsory primary education and serves as the basis for their orientation to secondary education.  

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Around 24 students across Kosovo took this test last year.

Every year, the answers to the test questions are shared on social media shortly after it is launched. As a result, a number of students are excluded from the test.