BackCBSE to conduct assessments of class IX, XI students
CBSE ties up with Pearson Education India, the local arm of British education company Pearson Plc, to conduct assessments
Premium(Priyanka Parashar/Mint)
New Delhi: Schools that follow the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) system are moving to better assess students’ ability to grasp what they are taught in class and their readiness to move to the next level, at least partly out of concern over reports questioning the quality of India’s education system at the elementary and secondary levels.
CBSE has tied up with Pearson Education India, the local arm of British education company Pearson Plc, to conduct assessments of class IX and XI students.
Part of the reason for the move is also the apparent lack of application by students owing to the policy of allowing them to pass regardless of performance until Class VIII.
The assessments “will focus on three specific areas—quantitative reasoning, qualitative reasoning and language conventions," according to a CBSE document reviewed by Mint.
“Qualitative reasoning will include reasoning seen in the humanities, arts and social sciences. Quantitative reasoning will include reasoning seen in mathematics, science and technology. Language conventions will include different aspects of written communications," said the document.
The performance of class IX students in the tests will have a bearing on their score in class X, according to the document.
The move follows concern over educational standards in Indian schools sparked by reports such as a 2011 study by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which found that out of 74 countries, Indian school students at the higher secondary level ranked almost at the bottom, with only Kyrgyzstan faring worse.
In the same year , the Quality Education Survey by Wipro Ltd and Educational Initiatives, an education assessment organization, found high-end schools in metros lacked quality parameters and largely depended on rote learning. The annual survey of education report (ASER) by education non-profit Pratham has found learning standards declining among elementary school students.
After the CBSE asked its schools to undergo the Pearson assessments, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), the leading school association in the country with a student base of 1.1 million, has decided to hold assessments for its students in Class V and Class VII as well. It will test the aptitude and reasoning ability of students and their preparedness for moving to the next class.
“These are key years and we need to know whether our students’ learning is progressing in the right direction or not. If we find the situation not satisfactory, we will have time to go for course correction," said KVS commissioner Avinash Dikshit. Dikshit said the new system will be in place in the coming academic year.
Some school authorities and experts said that the decision not to fail any student until class VIII as mandated by the Right to Education Act and a decision to scrap the CBSE class X board exam seems to have had a negative impact on the education system.
This has led to students not applying themselves as much as they used to, said Prasanna Pradhan, a secondary school teacher in Keonjhar Orissa. The decision by CBSE to scrap the Class X board exam is actually backfiring, he said.
“I believe a majority of the schools and students are not prepared for an exam-free regime. Unless organizations like KVS assess students in key years, the learning level is bound to go down. There is no pressure on students to perform," Pradhan said.
Bihar education minister P.K. Shahi has raised this point with the human resource development ministry.
The “abolition of examinations as provided in the RTE Act has adverse effects and our education system is not yet ready for a no-examination policy", Shahi said, according to the minutes of the Central Advisory Board of Education meeting held in June 2012.
Some parents agree.
“We have seen how kids are not worried about studies because they know nobody will fail them," said Amar Kumar Mishra, who has two school-going sons in Delhi. “Any school board or school association starting reasoning and aptitude tests will only do good to students."
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