How well-prepared are young adults to handle the problems of the future? is the first question OECD (1999) poses when discussing assessment issues. Can they successfully reason, evaluate, and explain their ideas? Do they possess the capacity to learn new things throughout their lives? These inquiries are meant to discover how well-versed students are in the material covered in the curriculum. These are crucial inquiries if the educational system hopes to support students’ academic relevance, overall personal development, and career advancement. The assessment technique, or the way in which and for what purposes students are evaluated, must first be determined. Possibly even more important than the assessment mechanism itself, is idetifying the curricular system under which the students will be assessed. This assertion is in line with Boud’s (2020) assertion that assessment is a crucial component of curriculum design, which implies that the assessment approach will be influenced by how the curriculum is structured. This article aims to define assessment as well as further identify and declare the appropriate curriculum framework for the suggested “practicalized assessment methodology” This article will further support the argument that exams and tests are outdated assessment instruments that are primarily employed and emphasized by curriculum systems that are not tailored to cater for each student’s specific educational needs and career goals.

When the word “assessment” is stated, “exams and tests” come to mind for many people, particularly students. Not only does it stop there, but some people also start to experience anxiety as they try to recall the information they have crammed or memorized in order to pass the test. In order to gain a thorough picture of what students know, comprehend, and are able to do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences, Boud (2020) describes assessment as the process of obtaining and discussing information from diverse sources and activities. Brown (1990) defined assessment as a connected set of measurements used to ascertain a complicated attribute of a person or group of people. This entails compiling and analyzing data regarding the degree of learning objectives achieved by students. As a result, effective evaluation can assist students in developing their capacity as self-directed learners (Darling-Hammond 2006). As it is asserted above, one goal of evaluation is to encourage and guide learning. At the lesson, course, and/or curriculum levels, well-designed assessment procedures are an essential part of continuous quality improvement processes and play a significant role in educational decision-making.

For instance, if students who want to study law are never given real-world, practical case studies to answer, their assessments will not be acceptable and relevant. It is doubtful whether students are prepared to pursue a law degree or even be considered for employment if they haven’t visited courtrooms, experienced the proceedings, and been mentored by those who are currently practicing law. If aspiring journalists have not actually engaged in investigative journalism (investigating cases and compiling in-depth reports on such instances, and the growth is exclusively dependent on the depth of the report and investigative skills), they are not relevantly assessed. That is how practicalized assessment is defined. Assessments must be relevant to the future goals of students. Even though students may take exams and tests, those methods of assessment are not relevant for career paths like these; therefore, a more applicable and pertinent method of assessment is needed to fundamentally determine, with confidence, what students know, what they can do, and what still needs improvement. Hady (2021) argues that schools should prepare students for the kinds of assessments they will face in the real world throughout their lives and careers. Exams, according to

Hady, are the most outdated and traditional means to assess a student; because they (exams and tests) do not prepare our children for the real world in 2021.

Potgieter, (2002) is of a similar view to the above argument, positing that in Africa and South Africa, the need for skills training and upgrading of people as a prerequisite for world-class competitiveness, organizational excellence, and labor productivity, was highlighted by Khumalo (1999) and van Zyl (1999).To be successful in any subsequent training strategy or intervention, the identification and development of competencies enabling employees to cope with fundamental internal and external change will be of paramount importance. With the move towards workplace assessment, in line with the National Qualifications Framework (Phillips,1996), a need has been identified for a practical model that human resource practitioners and psychologists could use to develop scientifically sound competency-based assessments. Coupled with this, is the need to develop and utilize selection and assessment methods that are job-relevant, culture-fair, transparent, and also practical. The responsible use of any psychological assessment procedure is also highlighted by recent developments in South African labor legislation, specifically the Employment Equity Act (Eckstein,1998). It could be for this reason that Stanfield and Strohmayer, (2015) from Newcastle University in England are of the view that a significant problem still remains; combining 21st-century technologies with 21st-century teaching practices is futile if we are still stuck with a form of assessment born in the 19th and 20th centuries – the written exam and tests.

It is regrettable that schools still rely solely on tests and exams as the only form of assessment in the age of the fourth industrial revolution. This highlights how outdated the educational curriculum is even more. This issue is inadvertently highlighting the necessity for the curriculum system to be personalized in line with the Simnandi Solutions (Pty) Ltd advocated PECS paradigm. If the curriculum system is personalized, it is simple to put assessments into practice and ensure that students comprehend what is required of them rather than simply memorizing facts and recalling them all at an exam without a solid comprehension of the subject. Hady (2021) is in favor of redesigning assessment, and he claims that doing so will improve assessment and promote meaning. Because of this, the personalized education curriculum system (PECS) believes that secondary school students should be enrolled according to chosen career pathways rather than having all students in one class being taught by a single teacher who does not have experience in the fields the students are seeking to pursue. The PECS concept easily ushers in practical assessment ideology rather than tests and exams for every student. By the way, if assessment is practicalized, it automatically counts as experience because the student went outside and completed tasks related to their field of study, as opposed to a student who sat down and completed theoretical assessments (exams and tests) without developing fieldwork skills.

For these reasons, the Personalised Education Curriculum System (PECS) has been designed as a curriculum system that is firmly rooted in quality, the principles of competency-based education, and is primarily concerned with evaluating students’ practical application of the necessary skills, aptitudes, and values to function successfully in contemporary society. PECS is created to be at the forefront of concerns over curriculum relevance. PECS is the result of dissatisfaction with the modernist curricular system in South Africa, much like the development of postmodernism. PECS is designed to rescue pupils from the horrifying curriculum that neglects to incorporate progressivism and to offer customized instruction that is appropriate for every learner. PECS is a disruptive and

qualitative curricular system that intends to put a stop to the confusion surrounding the curriculum’s discrepancies, much like progressivism did in the past, PECS is a novel and high-quality curriculum method that strives to clear up the misunderstanding surrounding the curriculum’s discrepancies. Through a curriculum system based on liberal education, PECS aims to make our educational system responsive to the requirements of society in order to restore its value and dignity. PECS strives to provide students with the chance to experience the working world while they are still in school. Due to this, PECS is distinctive and incredibly valuable in motivating the educational community in our nation, South Africa, and Africa as a whole. And we think that by doing this, the educational system can be enhanced.

Know more about PECS: https:/simnandisolutions.co.za/personalized-education/

Please answer these 3 questions and submit them:https://simnandisolutions.co.za/pecs. – Questionnaires.

Cite this publication: XABA, S.S. (2023).Practicalization of assessment mechanism – getting rid of exams and tests.https://simnandisolutions.co.za/post/.

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