Centre for Civic Education (CCE) has submitted an initiative to the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation proposing amendments to the Rulebook on the Assessment of Primary School Students, with the aim of addressing identified abuses in its implementation and ensuring fairer student assessment.
In recent months, a significant number of parents have contacted CCE to draw attention to the practice of unannounced short tests which, although they are not required to be formally recorded under the Rulebook, are regularly graded and entered into the electronic gradebook. This circumvents the obligation to announce written assessments in advance, the restrictions on their frequency, and the very purpose of short tests.
An additional problem is that such tests often cover an amount of material that is not appropriate for their duration (up to 15 minutes). Instead of assessing students’ understanding of the material covered in a single lesson, they effectively become regular written tests conducted without prior notice. As a result, grades cease to be an objective measure of knowledge and become a means of exerting pressure on and punishing students.
CCE has therefore proposed a clear distinction between regular written assessments and short tests, a more precise definition of their content and purpose, and a prohibition on entering grades obtained through unannounced short tests into the class register and electronic gradebook.
The initiative also proposes supplementing the Rulebook with provisions regulating the assessment of students who were absent from classes for justified reasons. In practice, such students are sometimes tested in other classes during regular lessons, which may cause additional stress, impair their concentration and place them at a disadvantage compared with other students. We therefore believe that the Rulebook should require such assessments to be organised in calm and appropriate conditions.
The proposed amendments would clearly distinguish regular written assessments from short tests, prevent the misuse of unannounced tests, define their content and scope more precisely, and ensure equal assessment conditions for students who were absent from classes for justified reasons.
CCE believes that these amendments would contribute to greater legal certainty, the consistent application of the Rulebook and the protection of students from arbitrary assessment, while fully preserving teachers’ ability to continuously monitor students’ progress.
Grades must reflect students’ actual knowledge and effort, rather than result from vague rules that leave room for inconsistent practices and abuse. We therefore expect the Ministry to give this initiative due consideration and adopt the proposed amendments before the beginning of the new school year.
Snežana Kaluđerović, Senior Legal Adviser