Page 58 - EW August 2023

Cover Story

• All assessment tests should be de- similar fate, intensive teacher train-
signed in conjunction with the curric- ing is imperative. Consequently the
ular goals and competencies set out in next instalment of NCF 2023 i.e,
detail for all the above 10 subject areas the NCF for Teacher Education is
for foundational, preparatory, middle critical and pivotal for implementa-
and secondary stages. tion of the new assessment system.
Moreover, both Central and state
Expert comment. “The NCFSE governments need to increase bud-
2023 assessment guidelines are steps getary allocations for education to
in the right direction, progressive but ensure implementation of the de-
not a quantum leap as they need to be tailed and comprehensive NCFSE
implemented across a wide spectrum 2023,” says Dr. Arunabh Singh,
of schools countrywide with wide dif- a Delhi University and King’s Col-
ferences in quality. The overall shift lege, London alum and director of
towards assessing children’s compe- the CBSE and Cambridge-affiliated
tencies developed through continu- Nehru World School, Ghaziabad.
ous evaluation of portfolios, written Dr. Singh, who also serves as a
tests, peer and self-assessments, and committee member of FICCI-Arise
two-term board exams, is a much- Singh: continuous evaluation call (Alliance for Reimagining School
needed change from the single final Education), believes the final draft
death exam system. But the major listic development. However a decade of NCFSE 2023 should include a
problem is likely to be implementa- later, it has been a non-starter and mandate to all schools/exam boards
tion. More than ten years ago, the failure due to poor implementation to declare students’ class X and XII
Central government had introduced by inadequately trained teachers and board exam results publicly, and to
the continuous comprehensive evalu- school managements. Therefore, to introduce first-aid education in pri-
ation system to assess children’s ho- ensure that NCFSE doesn’t meet a mary and middle school.

EW RECOMMENDATIONS ibility for interpreting the curriculum needs to be encour-
aged to restore the agency of teachers.
• Prohibiting explicit written tests and exams upto class • In the secondary stage, greater emphasis and weightage
II is welcome and will discourage several primary schools should be given to informal tests, assignments, project
from imposing formal exams on youngest children. work, group activity etc.
• Government school teachers, who are assigned census, • Moreover, assessment should cover academic subjects
election duties, etc, are over-burdened. These extra-cur- as well as life skills such as creative and critical think-
ricular duties should be withdrawn. Next, the final NCFSE ing, and decision-making with weightage also given to
2023 should include directives for teachers to use contem- extra-curricular activities. Teachers should be given the
porary digital technologies for assessment. Moreover, the discretion to enhance academic grades of students who
example of several education institutions to track student have performed well in non-scholastic activities.
progress using artificial intelligence should be replicated. • Insufficient attention has been paid to diagnostic as-
• The emphasis on continuous evaluation is commend- sessment which will facilitate diagnosis of every student’s
able. The final death exam system should be junked. learning needs and development of teaching-learning
• The inclusion of arts, physical and vocational educa- strategies to enhance academic performance.
tion as curricular subjects is welcome. However, assess- • Exam boards should be directed to publish school-leav-
ment guidelines for these disciplines need improvement. ing board exams results in the public domain. This will
Greater autonomy needs to be given to teachers to assess enable parents to make better-informed school choices
these practical disciplines beyond standardised assess- for their children. Also when parents know the average
ment formats. marks of all local schools, low ranked schools will be
• Intensive teacher training in new technology-assisted driven to improve teaching-learning standards to attract
teaching and testing is critical for successful implementa- and retain students.
tion of NEP 2020. The primacy of the teacher needs to be • The draft NCFSE 2023 has not addressed the issue
restored. of run-away grades inflation by exam boards. The final
• The assessment guidelines in NCFSE are suggestive of draft should include directions to national and state exam
micro-management. Teacher autonomy, freedom and flex- boards to rationalise and equalise scores.

58 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2023