1,500 Moldovan students take math e-assessment, following in Estonia’s footsteps

Written by: Marian Männi from Chișinău, Moldova

“It was easy!” exclaimed 4th-graders Maria and Dragos right after their math test. It’s not something you usually hear after a test, especially not from primary school students. “I was nervous at first,” Maria admits. “But it was much easier than paper tests!” Her schoolmates nod in agreement.

We are at the Theoretical High School "Aurel David" in Bardar, a small Moldovan village about half an hour’s drive from the capital, Chisinau. Birds sing outside the school windows, and green hills dominate the landscape beyond.

Today, over 1500 4th graders across Moldova tested their math skills simultaneously. Students in cities and villages, in the North and South, all came together virtually for an hour. Usually, teachers spend days correcting exams, but not this time. The results appeared on the screens right after the test, allowing the students to immediately review their answers and learn from their mistakes. Teachers had access to the results right away, and students were excited to see how well they did.

Exporting Estonian education

This new assessment format is made possible by an Estonian exam management system, Examodo, the Education and Youth Board of Estonia (HARNO) and the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV). “We are exporting Estonian education, and the request for this came from the Moldovan Ministry of Education,” says Anna Alen, an ESTDEV project advisor.

Alen explains that digital assessments are one of the focus areas of the Moldovan education digital transformation project: "E-assessment allows teachers to monitor students' progress, helps identify students' strengths and weaknesses and provides feedback to teachers and students."

According to Alen, e-assessment encourages teachers and students to employ new technologies and develop digital skills, contributing to the education system's efficiency and overall improvement.

Last year, Moldova’s Minister of Education, Dan Perciun, visited schools in Estonia and decided to import Estonia’s educational know-how. However, digitalisation for its own sake is not his goal; he sees digitalisation as one of the tools that can be used to reform education. As part of this reform, the ministry is officially adopting the Examodo examination software provided by the Estonian company OÜ Agilist as part of its national testing support for schools.

Margit Miller-Vilbo, a digitalisation specialist at the Estonian Board of Education and Youth, and Alen were in the computer room today, curiously observing how the pupils were doing and following along, looking at the data pouring in on the screen beside them. “Integrating digital tools in the educational system gives children better opportunities in life,” says Miller-Vilbo. “I was impressed by how well it all worked and how well the pupils did,” she added.

But it’s not just about completing an online exam. A lot of experimentation and testing go into the final solution. A digital tool is always under development and constantly needs updates. “It has taken us two years to go from the initial testing to the final e-test,” Miller-Vilbo says.

Some parents are wary of e-testing

“Aurel David” school included parents in the discussions around digitalisation. The school’s director, Valentina Plugaru, says many parents had reservations about e-exams, but she came up with a novel solution: “We brought them to school and asked them to test the digital exam platform together with their children.”

Most parents agreed to the new format after seeing it for themselves, but nine of the 47 pupils still had to do the test on paper since their parents didn’t allow them to take the e-exam. “They were afraid their children wouldn’t know how to use the platform and would get a low grade,” Plugaru said. She is convinced that other students will soon convince the sceptical ones that virtual testing is, in fact, even easier.

Despite the initial resistance, the school is moving ahead with digitalisation. To Plugaru, digitalisation is an inevitable part of progress. She believes that the school must keep up with the times. Digitalisation makes lessons and testing more efficient, but it’s also a way to make learning more attractive for the pupils.

“In the end, it’s all about getting the children to focus. If you don’t have that, you are talking to the walls,” says Ion Scutaru, the head of the Direction National Agency for Curriculum and Assessment at the Moldovan Ministry of Education. “What I observed here today is that the children were all concentrating.” In his view, digital tools keep pupils engaged and in learning mode. For them, it’s almost a game, and if they learn along the way, then it’s working.

E-assessments make education more reliable

This e-assessment was a follow-up to the  first assessment that took place a year ago in Moldova's primary schools.

"The introduction of electronic exams in Moldova is a major step forward for the quality and efficiency of the entire education system. This is not just a change in the form of assessment, it is an opportunity to make learning more engaging for children, teaching more effective for teachers, and the entire education system more transparent," commented Kristi Kulu, head of the ESTDEV education program.

"Electronic exams make it possible to collect reliable and comparable information about students' skills across the country. This is an invaluable tool for teachers, school leaders, and education policymakers," Kulu added.

E-assessments are part of the "Future Technology Activity for Education" project financed by Estonia (ESTDEV), Sweden (SIDA), and the United States (USAID), which is focused on the digital transformation of Moldovan education.