OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education: North Macedonia
How can assessment and evaluation policies work together more effectively to improve student outcomes in primary and secondary schools? The country reports in this series analyse major issues facing evaluation and assessment policy to identify improvements that can be made to enhance the quality, equity and efficiency of school education.
The Republic of North Macedonia has made remarkable progress in expanding access to education and strengthening institutional capacity. Yet, the majority of young Macedonians leave school without mastering the basic competencies for life and work and students’ background continues to influence performance. This review, developed in cooperation with UNICEF, provides North Macedonia with recommendations to help strengthen its evaluation and assessment system, by moving towards a system where assessment provides students with helpful feedback to improve learning. It will be of interest to North Macedonia, as well as other countries looking to make more effective use of their evaluation and assessment system to improve quality and equity, and result in better outcomes for all students.
Assessment and Recommendations
The OECD last reviewed the education policies of the Republic of North Macedonia in 2003 (OECD, 2003[1]). Today, sixteen years on, more children and young people participate in education and remain in school for longer. There have also been major institutional improvements since 2003, with the creation of separate government agencies that now concentrate professional capacity for key evaluation and assessment functions. This includes the National Examinations Centre (NEC), which manages the country’s state matura examination that is recognised across the region for its innovative design and integrity. It also includes the State Education Inspectorate (SEI), which leads and supports regular external and internal school evaluations in North Macedonia. School evaluations focus on many of the aspects of the school environment that research recognises to be essential for learning.