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No Exams Till Class V In Kolkata

By pardeep3dec, Section Education
Posted on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:45:54 AM EST

Some of the city's best schools are bidding goodbye to all examinations until class five in a fresh bid to unburden the study load of tiny tots. St. James School, Mahadevi Birla Girls' School, Future Campus School and The Heritage School will henceforth introduce a system of continuous assessment of students -- instead of terminal examinations -- to ensure their academic progress.

"We will identify a child's strong points and his weaknesses and subsequently help him improve in the weak areas", says Angela Ghose, headmistress of St. James' School. "The idea is to help them learn without fear of failure which examinations inevitably trigger."

Shubha Pathak, the teacher-in-charge of Future Campus School, added: "This way, we help the child develop all his talents instead of simply completing the syllabus. Our basic aim is to boost his confidence so that he learns to learn on his own."

The process involves unitwise break-up of subjects and an assessment at the end of each unit, which may be in the form of classwork and homework. The cumulative average in each subject results in a grade at the end of each term -- without tests. The competencies vary with the subject and may include listening skills, reading skills, writing skills. Teachers maintain a daily register of each child to assess his competencies accurately. "This method ensures that a child not only learns what he is taught but also develops other skills, which are very important to make learning life applicable", according to Malini Bhagat, headmistress at Mahadevi Birla Girls' School.

Bhagat is planning to do away with even subject-wise grades and have only an overall term grade. "Why even grade a child subjectwise?" she asked. "Even that creates a sense of competition and unhealthy comparison."

Educationists believe a child should not know that he is being evaluated at all in lower classes as that develops a sense of fear. In the system of continuous assessment, not only is the assessment more accurate than that of a terminal examination, a child is not subjected to the fear and pressure of a terminal examination and the phobia that results. "Some subjects are not evaluated at all in lower classes", said Ghose.

"We treat history and general knowledge as fun subjects in Class III and give a certificate or a reward as an incentive to a child who performs well. Children take greater interest in subjects that are not graded", she said. However, most schools still follow the examination system and feel it equips children with skills required to appear for board examinations.

Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com//2007/October/subcontinent_October221.

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