British Council Nepal has been working with the Ministry of Education (MoE) on a National level Examination Reform Project (ERP). As per the memorandum of understanding with MoE, British Council Nepal has provided technical assistance in Test Item Development for English subject for the grade ten. To provide technical assistance, British Council recruited Norwich Institute for Language Education (NILE) as an international consultant and Kathmandu University School of Education (KUSOED) as a national consultant.
NILE and KUSOED provided the technical assistance to Ministry of Education and Office of the Controller of Examination to build the capacity in key Nepali education institutions and support the change by developing a cadre of test item writers who are able to produce and review valid, reliable test items which promote higher order skills and communicative, activity-based teaching and learning.
In a three-month period, the team has succeeded in developing the knowledge and skills of a cadre of test-item writers and produced high-quality items to bank for English subject of grade ten.
The success of this project to date has been largely due to the effective international collaboration between the NILE and the KUSOED teams, supported by British Council Nepal at every stage. In addition, this collaboration was guided by the engagement and commitment of the government Steering Committee formed with the combination of the ministry of education, its line agencies, British Council and consultants. This approach and structure is highly recommended for future developments in the area of the examination reform project of Nepal: drawing on the essential combination of UK technical expertise and local knowledge and contacts, and closely aligned with government priorities and institutions.