Are EXAMS optional? – II

Posted by Ninad on September 14, 2009 under All Posts | Be the First to Comment

After I wrote the BLOG last week on the issue of optional exams for CBSE students, I have been discussing this with many friends.

One of my friends from Delhi had an interesting comment to make. He said that this concept was good in theory, but how will it really pan out in the real world? Will the student be at the mercy of the teacher? How will the student know that the grades are objective? Will it increase his servility to the teacher? Isn’t he entitled to take a test and compete equally with his peers?

This got me thinking…

As a society, we have been obsessed with exam percentages. This has happened due to the problem of sheer numbers. On the one hand, there is an acute shortage of good higher educational institutions driving up a huge demand for limited seats and concomitantly, higher percentages for entry. On the other, the number of students is so large that an examination system seemed to be the only clean, objective method of measurement — a standardized test of a child’s intelligence.

Another dimension is the impact across various strata of society. Is cut-throat competition for getting that extra mark a middle-class phenomenon? Do they see exam results and the ensuing entry into the best institutions for higher learning as the panacea towards upward mobility in society? The answer to both the questions is “Yes”.

Then, how do you convince these folks that they need not worry about exams? Will they feel that the concept of “no exams” is non-practical?  And, will it blunt a child’s competitive spirit?

So, what are the challenges of the new system of grading?

• Re-orientation of teachers and parents. Both will need to adapt to the new system of learning and grading. The vicious circle of the need for high marks and exams will have to be broken with an attitudinal change.
• Uniform applicability across all schools. While some CBSE schools may adapt to this, others may not. Government schools, in particular, are struggling with far more pressing issues of salary payments, infrastructure etc. Shouldn’t they focus on these issues, rather than grapple with a new grading system?
• Preventing nepotism: This problem may happen in the implementation of the grading system. Parents will really have no option but to accept the teacher’s diktat. A proper redressal method should be evolved at the school level.

The grading system for CBSE will have many teething problems. However, if it is executed carefully by schools, it can really make a big difference in the alleviation of academic pressure on students.

I will end my BLOG post with a quote by William B. Yeats “Education is not the filling of a  pail, but the lighting of a fire”.

Hopefully, the grading system will end up “lighting the fire” in a CBSE student!