A/HRC/26/27 comprehensive curriculum reform guidelines. Established in 2007, the National Centre for Basic Education Quality Assessment plays a leading role in developing and supporting the conduct of education assessments in China. It is in the process of setting up a national education quality assessment system to consider those broader criteria. 48. In Qatar, annual student evaluations from the 4th to the 12th grade have been conducted since 2003 by the Supreme Education Council. A graded system was introduced in 2011 in the annual test, with a minimum pass requirement of 30 per cent of total marks. The Supreme Education Council has started to put more focus on this by providing training courses for teachers and displaying model tests on its site, thus providing school principals and teachers with plans and strategies for the quality of teaching to match the level of the national tests. Moreover, the results of the national tests are taken into consideration for evaluating and improving school performance. 49. Education is evaluated locally, regionally and nationally in Finland. The activities of education providers are guided by objectives laid down in legislation and in the national core curricula and qualification requirements. The system relies on the proficiency of teachers and other personnel. National evaluations are done annually, with arts and crafts evaluated alongside academic subjects, aiming to follow at the national level how well the objectives of the national core curricula and qualification requirements are being met locally. 50. In Kenya, under Article 64 (1) of the Basic Education Act of 2013 the Education Standards and Quality Assurance Council was established to ensure standards and to maintain quality by monitoring the conduct of assessments and examinations in institutions of basic education. The Act lays down a national qualifications framework (article 68 (1)) which will be developed in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders to set standards and benchmarks for qualifications and competencies, and provides for the recognition of the attainment of competencies, including skills, knowledge, attitudes and values. Article 74 of the Act provides for a Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, whose mandate is to include curriculum development for basic education. 51. As part of fundamental reforms of the education system, undertaken since the beginning of 2013 in Mexico and premised on education as a fundamental right, articles 3 and 73 of the constitution were amended, strengthening the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education. With full autonomy as a constitutional body, it has a mandate to evaluate the quality of teaching professionally, with both teachers and government authorities sharing that responsibility. On 13 August 2013, the Law on the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education as well as the General Law on Professional Teaching Service were amended to improve them as performance assessment instruments for achieving free, equitable, quality public education as a legal responsibility, as well as an ethical obligation of the Government. 52. In a drive towards improving standards and quality, in 2013, Seychelles developed a national assessment framework to foster the holistic development of children to enable them to acquire the knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes necessary in today’s world. With an emphasis on “acceptable professional standards” of quality, the framework provides that “Assessments shall be conducted in accordance with regulations at the end of each key stage of primary and secondary schooling to evaluate the performance of students in relation to the targets of the national curriculum.”26 53. In order to improve the teaching and learning provided by the national education system, the evaluation of student performance in Ecuador aims, through the application of various assessment instruments, to evaluate the attitudes and skills of the student, i.e. an 26 12 Ministry of Education of Seychelles, “The National Assessment Framework : supporting a new vision for learning” (2013), p. 4.