Patterns of GPA in Higher Institutions of Ethiopia: Towards the Development of Standardized Quality Parameter

Abstract

Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is one of the quality parameters routinely employed to set the students’ performance in higher institutions. It has long been used as a yardstick in various competition types and enrolment at higher educational institutions. Recently, several institutions (Public and Private) had phenomenally mushroomed where a wide spectrum of grading schemes is expected. Variations in grading system could be reflected on the CGPA scored by graduates: either from similar departments of different institutions, or from different batches of the same institutions. The observed heterogeneity has induced scepticism from stakeholders on the efficacy and objectivity of CGPA, which eventually call for systematic standardization tool. This study has attempted to (1) identify the patterns of grade inflation across institutions and through time; and (2) generate a standardization technique, which enables across-college and across-batch objectification. CGPA of sample graduates from business-oriented departments of Public and Private institutions were collected and interpreted. Besides, pertinent data were collected from college instructors and employing organization through structured questionnaire. Results of the study showed that there is a trend of grade inflation (1) as one moves from the Public to Private owned institutions, (2) within different Public colleges, and (3) across years within Public-owned departments. In a bid to standardize the quality of graduates across institutions, this study developed a Normalized Index (computed as CGPA ESLCE CGPA ESLCE + − ), which took into account CGPA and ESLCE (Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate Examination) scores. An equation ACGPA = CGPA ± NI was derived to calculate the Adjusted CGPA. A Look up Table was prepared for all grading scenarios, which enables a user-friendly adjustment to the CGPA of college graduates. This study recommends that ACGPA should be fine-tuned to take into account other variables and needs to be validated on un-sampled institutions.