Division Management.
Division Management is one of the four units of the Examinations, Research and Testing Division. It offers support services to the other three units namely Examinations Administration, Research and Testing, and Policies and Standards in the form of Administrative Support Services such as Supplies and Transport.

Contact Person: M. Semadi
Head of Division Management
Tel: 3184760
Fax: 3164203/3164413
Email: msemadi@gov.bw

Examinations Administration and Certification.
This section coordinates the administration of all levels of examinations that is Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), Junior Certificate Examination (JCE), Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) and other external examinations. The section strives to deliver quality services to its clients in the most efficient and effective way.

Test Development Unit.
The Test Development Unit is responsible for the design and development of examinations that assess the achievement of learners and provide reports that inform the monitoring of progress in the education system. Some of the activities which the unit undertakes in order to fulfill this responsibility are:

• Development of assessment procedures and assessment syllabuses.
• Annual preparation of question papers and marking schemes for the assessment programmes.
• Provision of professional guidance on measurement issues during marking, grading and grade review.
• Research into the functioning of examinations, for example pre-testing of multiple choice items.
• Participation in survey projects which provide information on the variables that affect the performance of the learners. For example, Monitoring of Learning Achievement project at Standard Four and Trends in Mathematics and Science Study at Form One.

Contact Person: J. Gaobakwe
Head of Test Development Unit
Tel: 3184765
Fax: 3164203/3164413
Email: jgaobakwe@gov.bw

The Research Role of Examinations, Research and Testing Division.

Although the conspicuous function of Examinations, Research and Testing Division (ERTD) of the Ministry of Education is the conduct of Examination programmes, the research role underlies the examination processes.

Annually, ERTD carries out piloting of multiple-choice items. This is an important quality control measure to ensure that items presented to examinees are technically sound. Unfortunately, the fact that open-ended tasks are expensive to score makes it not cost effective for ERTD to pilot these types of items.

A second aspect of the type of research that ERTD is supposed to carry out is to investigate the various psychometric issues that the examination programmes may pose. Are the examination outcomes reliable, are the results interpreted and used properly, are issues of bias suggested by the assessment data? These and other similar questions need constant attention. Capacity at the moment limits the amount of investigation that can be done.

The progress of education is supposed to be monitored closely in order to identify bottlenecks for the Ministry of Education. ERTD has started conducting research aimed at assessing the achievements of pupils/students and relating these achievements to background variables. The intention is to identify factors that tend to stand in the way of quality teaching and learning so that these factors can be acted upon for the development of the quality of learning children are exposed to.

Contact Person : L. Charakupa
Chief Education Officer
Tel: 3184694
Fax: 3185011
Email: lcharakupa@gov.bw

Location
Examinations, Research and Testing Division is situated along western bypass road between Botswana Television building and Westgate mall.

Address
Examinations, Research & Testing Division
Private Bag 0070
Gaborone Botswana
Tel: +267 3184383
Fax: +267 3164203/3164413
Email: ertd.registry@gov.bw