Teachers irked by directive to hold ‘test’

Charanjit Singh,state president of Block Resource Persons Association,Punjab,said,“From October 22 to 26,the first trimester exams for classes I to IV were conducted. The result was compiled by October 29. Similarly in majority of senior government schools,the first trimester exams of classes V to X concluded around September 26. September 27 was Sunday and September 28 was the holiday of Dusshehra. The schools reopened on September 29. And in the span of three days i.e September 29,30 and October 1,the teachers remained busy in evaluation process as the parents-teacher meeting is October 3. So teaching work could not be resumed. But the department has again sent us the question-papers for conducting weekly tests of all these classes under “Padho Punjab,” a project of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan in coordination with Pratham,a non-government organisation. “

While Jagjit Singh,another member of this association,said,“As per instructions,these tests are to start from October 5. But it is not feasible as without teaching-learning,how can students appear in these tests?”

Under “Padho Punjab” project,weekly tests of all the classes are held for subjects including mathematics,science,environmental science and English. Charanjit Singh said,“The date-sheet for these exams is also sent by the department. The weekly tests are conducted on every Monday and students of all the classes have to appear in the exam of same subject.”

While another teacher said,“We also did not get any instructions about the syllabus to be covered under these weekly tests. On one hand,we were asked to conduct the first trimester exams from September 22 to 26 for classes 1 to IV,While on other hand,the higher authorities of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan issued instructions for celebrating the ‘Library week’ after the two-hour duration of “Padho Punjab”. All this created lot of confusion.”