In a move aimed at enhancing transparency and ensuring fairness in educational institutions, the Ministry of Education has unveiled a set of strict new protocols regulating the work of "control and discipline" committees within schools. These instructions aim to solidify the principle of "the student's best interest" as the fundamental and decisive criterion in the processes of recording and reviewing grades, granting the "green pen" (a reference to a specific committee or body) sovereign authority in the final audit.
Context of development and ensuring quality of education
These regulatory measures come within the framework of the Ministry of Education's ongoing efforts to develop the assessment and measurement system, as the testing and grading phase is one of the most sensitive stages in a student's educational journey. Historically, manual grading processes were susceptible to unintentional human error, necessitating rigorous review mechanisms. With the technological and administrative advancements the Kingdom is witnessing, it has become essential to establish precise regulations that define responsibilities and standardize procedures to ensure that no student's rights are violated due to a procedural error or oversight in grading, reflecting the Ministry's commitment to international quality standards in education.
The powers of the "Green Pen" and the amendment mechanism
The new regulations precisely define the use of colors within the control rooms, restricting the use of the green pen exclusively to final review processes following initial marking. This color distinction aims to clarify the auditing stages and ensure the accuracy of recorded scores.
Regarding the amendment mechanism, the ministry obligated reviewers, when there is a need to change a grade, to follow specific steps that ensure the legal reliability of the paper. These steps consist of crossing out the old number in a light line that keeps it legible, writing the new grade in numbers and words with the reviewer’s explicit signature, and prohibiting the use of “white eraser” completely, in order to cut off any doubts that may affect the integrity of the correction process.
The golden rule of “student interest”
The regulations established a golden principle that favors the student in cases of errors in the addition or recording processes. The regulations stipulate that in the event of a discrepancy in grades, the higher grade, which is in the student's best interest, will be immediately confirmed and adopted. Conversely, the grade will be immediately corrected if the error unfairly disadvantages the student, thus underscoring the Ministry's commitment to ensuring that any errors, if they occur, do not negatively impact the student's academic future.
Handling multiple and crossed-out answers
The ministry addressed the recurring issue of multiple-choice answers, directing that the "arithmetic mean" of all answers provided in essay questions be calculated to ensure a comprehensive assessment of student understanding. However, in objective (multiple-choice) questions, selecting more than one option is considered an incorrect answer, deserving a zero, given the precise nature of these questions.
In a compassionate gesture that takes psychological factors into account, the regulations have shown particular flexibility towards students taking supplementary exams (those retaking exams or taking final attempts). The instructions allow for awarding half the marks for a correct answer that the student crossed out, provided it was legible. This decision acknowledges the psychological pressure and high level of stress experienced by this group of students, which might otherwise lead them to hesitate and cross out correct answers.
Expected impact and mandatory review
These controls are expected to contribute to raising the overall level of satisfaction among students and parents, and reducing the number of appeals and complaints related to exam results. To ensure the application of these standards, the procedural guide emphasized to the "Control and Control" committees the necessity of conducting accurate matching between electronic recordings and answer sheets, with mandatory random review of sample papers. The ministry also required a thorough review of the paper of any student who did not receive a perfect score, to ensure that there were no errors in the marking that could affect their final grade.
