The Class XII and Class X Board results are out and the news for Arunachal is not good as it has been registering poor performance for quite some time. The Guwahati region has seen a dip in pass percentage and this has been attributed to poor performance of government schools in Arunachal and Sikkim.

Board exams have become such a focal point of the Indian education system that this is now synonymous with stress not just students but their families as well. Each year students facing the class X and XII undergo gruelling sessions of school, private coaching etc all in an attempt to ace these examinations and get into elite colleges and jobs placed high value by society. This frenzy around the Board Exams however raises a question as to how a child’s assessment model has become the cause of so much pain and undue pressure.

Education has been called a truly transformative process, capable of turning children into sensible and aware young adults capable of critically engaging with their society and environment. Its main purpose is to pass on knowledge and give everyone equal opportunity as a means to succeed in life and it cannot be a one-step process. But the Indian Education System today is churning out students who are good at rote learning without actual reasoning and understanding of the subject content and our assessment system continues to focus on exclusion instead of inclusion.

How relevant is an assessment system that more often than not tests a student’s ability to memorise his or her textbooks?

It is a fact that results of Class 10 and 12 hardly makes a difference in the quality of later life. There are plenty of successful people who scored average or below in such examinations yet have become successful in their chosen fields.

 

A child since day one of school learns something and he or she is an outcome of the various stages of the education process. So is it fair that a single performance decides his or her fate. What if a bright student up till class IX fares badly in class X, does that make him a poor student?

An annual examination that determines a child’s continued access to education of their choice seems arbitrary at best. Children whose talents and skills are not suitable for our current system of assessment will continue to find themselves under an unnecessarily large amount of stress and pressure. These ‘excluded’ children may further suffer from self-esteem issues as they are denied access to education that should be their right.

The terror that board examinations cause to children is truly alarming. We need to reshape our entire philosophy of education at large and assessment systems in particular. (with inputs)

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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