An education system in transition: assessment and examinations in the Republic of Macedonia

Cooperation With Parents Before and During Covid19 for Sustainable Learning Through Formative Assessment

“…Formative assessment is a process that is carried between teachers and students in order to comprehend students’ interests and attitudes about quality learning (Brookhart, 2010). According to Murchan and Shiel, 2017, teachers monitor how well students are learning, what are their difficulties and successes in order to help them achieve their goals. Therefore, through the planning and implementation of the formative assessment, students must become self-confident in thinking that everyone can improve their learning and become successful.…”

Balancing Cultural Diversity and Social Cohesion in Education: The Potential of Shared Education in Divided Contexts

“…Work in FYR Macedonia to date has also identified a number of features of the education system that are amenable to shared education. From a structural perspective, the involvement of NGOs in education in the region (Murchan et al, 2012), together with the decentralisation of educational administration, has created a favourable environment for the introduction of local pilot initiatives. Within this context, the role of UNICEF and USAID in sponsoring project has proved valuable, not only in providing funding and resources, but also in contributing knowledge of the local educational landscape and facilitating access to schools and teachers.…”

“…The existence of a common school curriculum has also greatly assisted shared education in FYR Macedonia. As all schools follow a common curriculum irrespective of their language of instruction (Hughes, Leitch and Baker, 2011;Murchan et al, 2012), the task of identifying subjects and activities to be delivered via shared education is relatively straightforward. In the development of shared education, favoured subjects have included those requiring less verbal instruction, such as music, art and dance, which are delivered in shared classes taught jointly by Macedonian-and Albanian-speaking teachers.…”

“…Such difficulties face all integration projects, however, and the flexibility of shared education is arguably advantageous, allowing schools to schedule joint sessions at their convenience and potentially to introduce online sessions (via internet conferencing) where technology allows. The persistence of 'shift' systems, which schools operate as a way of managing a lack of building capacity (Koneska, 2012;Lyon, 2013;Murchan et al, 2012), also remains a barrier to shared education between or within institutions operating on the same site. Commonly organised along ethnic and religious lines, these shifts impede opportunities for contact between students who attend different schools.…”

“…Third, while all schools prepare pupils for either State Matura or School Matura exams (Murchan et al, 2012), the non-standardised nature of the School Matura has presented some challenge. As the assessments for this examination are conducted at school level, there have been difficulties in allowing assessment undertaken at other schools to be counted towards a student's final qualification (Hughes, Leitch and Baker, 2011).…”