Assessment Center: Problem Solving Exercise

Time: 30 minutes
Name ____________
Scenario:
You are a Fellow, placed in a secondary government school in Islamabad, teaching Maths and English to Classes 6, 7 and
8. The average class size in your school is 50 students and the secondary school has an approximate enrollment of 230
students. The school faces a severe disciplinary problem with its student body in general. Students regularly come late or
skip school altogether. As a result, your school has an average daily attendance rate of 72%. Concerned, your school
Principal has made you in charge of a committee tasked with proposing an action plan to increase the average daily
attendance rate to at least 90%. To help you, he has collected data from the neighboring schools in the district, displayed
in the date table below.
Future Colony Fatima Jinnah Bhitai Secondary Bluebell High Falcon House
Girls High School High School School Grammar NJV High School
School Name School School

% Average Daily
Attendance 50 90 67 95 96 80

Student/Teacher 16 to 1
Ratio 22 to 1 13 to 1 19 to 1 11 to 1 11 to 1

Distance students 0.50 miles

live from school 1.5 miles 1.3 miles 0.75 miles 1 mile 0.25 miles
(average)
% of students from
households where
both parents are 15 20 10 22 8 12
working

On-site afterschool
enrichment
No No No Yes Yes No
program

Frequency of Twice a Twice a week

Monthly Twice a Weekly
teacher-family Monthly week
week
communication
Average
schoolwide score
62% 85% 70% 89% 90% 80%
on end-of-year
board exam
Workshops for
families regarding
No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
attendance and
absenteeism
Staff member
designated as
attendance contact No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
for families

Frequency of all 3 days a week Twice a

Daily
school assemblies Weekly Weekly Daily week

Current budget per Rs.9,400

pupil Rs.6,800 Rs.11,500 Rs.7,900 Rs.13,400 Rs.13,600
Part A: In 1-2 paragraphs, propose a plan of action (or actions) that you’d recommend to the Principal. Explain
why this is your recommendation and share the analysis or thought process that led you to select the action (or
actions) and try to prioritize the actions.

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Part B: Some other teachers in the school have been appointed as members of the committee.

Mr. Akram has been teaching Pakistan Studies and Urdu to Class 6-10 for 8 years in this school. He suggests that the
school adopt stricter rules and consequences to enforce discipline. For example, if a student comes late to school, Mr.
Akram recommends that he should be sent back home.
Mr. Iqbal has been teaching Physics and Chemistry to Class 9 and 10 students for the past 3 years. He suggests that
teachers should be stricter with students in their classes and enforce discipline through any means necessary, especially
for students that misbehave. He recommends corporal punishment for the most severe cases.
Mr. Jamal has been in the school for less than a year, teaches Islamiat to all classes and is also responsible for
managing the school’s engagement with students’ parents. He suggests that parents need to be involved more actively
to take responsibility for their child’s actions. For example, if a student is absent or late, Mr. Jamal recommends calling
his parents to alert them of the action.

In your opinion, what are the reasons because of which the three teachers could potentially be suggesting their
respective solutions? Please limit your answers to 1-2 sentences for each teacher.

1. Mr. Akram:
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2. Mr. Iqbal:
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3. Mr. Jamal: __________________________________________________________________________________

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As the committee lead, what would you recommend to the Principal, given the various options suggested by the
committee members? For this answer, please don’t take into account your answer for Part A. Please limit your
answer to the space provided below.

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