The State Institute of Education (SIE), Kashmir has recommended doing away with external evaluation of students of lower class by District Institute of Education and Trainings (DIETs) arguing the Institutes should be utilised only for training teachers and conducting researches.
In its report the SIE, which is meant to train newlyrecruited teachers and frame syllabus, has recommended that the evaluationprocess should be handed over to the individual schools on the pattern ofprivate educational institutions.
The recommendations havecome to fore at a time when the new academic session of lower classes has gotdelayed by more than a month owing to delay in their external evaluation.
The evaluation of the class 5 and class 9 students ofgovernment-run schools for Term-I and Term-II exams is conducted by the DIETs.
The process is often time consuming as the exams getstretched to weeks together.
On thecontrary, the Term-I and Term-II exams of lower classes, except for the Term-IIexams of class 8th, are themselves conducted by the private schools.
“If the Term- I and Term-II exams in government schools areconducted at school level it will consume only one week and students willresume their classes immediately,” a senior official said. “In the presentsystem the department makes the exam a complicated exercise which puts studentsunder lot of stress.”
The SIE has stated that the DIETs were quintessentially meantto focus on research programs and development of the institutions.
“To burden these institutions with examination related worksat primary and upper primary level would distract the DIETs and the SIE fromtheir envisaged role and dilute their focus,” reads the report.
The report has been submitted to the Directorate of SchoolEducation Kashmir (DSEK) for further action. But there has been no word fromthe department on its implementation.
Earlierin 2016, the government had issued an order asking the SIE to conduct Term-Iand II exams from class 5 to class 9.
The order also allowed detention of students from classes 5to class 8 on basis of their performance in Term-I and Term-II exams. Thedepartment was however barred to detain any student of class 9.
The report has recommended that the assessment and evaluationup to class 4 in government schools may continue to be school based with nodetention in view of the tender age group of children and adverse psychologicalimplications of the move.
“If detention is allowed at primary level it will triggerschool dropouts particularly in backward and far flung areas,” reads thereport.
About the upper primary classes, the SIE has recommended thatthe assessment of class 6 and class 7 students in Term-I and Term-II exams bemade school-based instead of being handled by DIETs and SIE.
“The proposed change will prevent avoidable academic loss inconducting one common examination which spreads over a long period of time,”reads the report.