Wards’ progress in words,not marks

The board,open to suggestions on the draft curriculum till October 25,is reaching out to the principals,teachers,parents and students through interactive sessions.

The Pune division of the Board arranged a discussion on Tuesday. Rekha Palshikar and Dhanvanti Hardikar,members of the coordinating committee that drafted the curriculum,moderated the sessions and collected views.

Teachers present raised the issue of examination and assessment. “There was confusion among schools since there was an announcement that there would be no examinations. However,it was clarified the examinations would stay. Now,the issue is about assessment,” said Shantaram Dongare,principal,Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi School,Sangamner.

Hardikar said evaluation would now be different. “The schools will not convey marks. The curriculum framework proposes teachers should convey the progress to parents in writing. Teachers will elaborate on how the student is doing in a subject and what he/she lacks. The schools will have to develop a mechanism of conveying these messages to parents,” she said.

Palshikar said the new framework fixes bigger responsibility on teachers. “Students will have to be taught as per their understanding and till they understand. There are recommendations such as preparing a set of textbooks to help understand subjects better or providing more subject options at the primary level,which,at present,is limited,” she said.

Hardikar said the curriculum aims at minimizing study load. “It is required to develop reference skills rather than bombarding information on students. Teachers will teach how to learn. Students are expected to learn how to search references using internet,dictionary or books,” she said.

“Every student has a different social background and they should be taught taking into consideration local situations. The teaching strategy will be open for assessment by society,” she said.