PARAKH, a standard-setting body under the NCERT, has recently submitted to the Ministry of Education an ‘equivalence’ report, which makes recommendations on how equivalence can be achieved across different school boards in the country, in keeping with a mention of it in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The NEP provides for the formation of a body like PARAKH, and states that PARAKH “will also become an instrument for the sharing of best practices among school boards, and for ensuring equivalence of academic standards among learners across all school boards.”
What does equivalence across boards mean?
A government official pointed out that school boards now are different from one another, in terms of factors including curriculum, examinations, and the structure and functioning of the board itself, resulting in some boards being seen as “better” than others.
There are 69 school boards in the country, including the State boards – some are secondary boards only, some are for higher secondary, and some are common for both – and CBSE, ICSE, the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and other open school boards, technical and vocational boards, Sanskrit boards, and madrasa boards.
The ‘equivalence’ report sets standards for the boards across five categories – administration, curriculum, assessment, inclusiveness, and infrastructure. The official explained that the intention behind pursuing equivalence is not to establish “uniformity” across boards, but ensure that “every learner who enrolls in a school affiliated in any board should get certain standardised, benchmarked facilities for performance.”
What recommendations has PARAKH made?
A key recommendation is in terms of assessment – a student’s performance in Class 9, 10, and 11 will count towards the final assessment for Class 12. The Class 12 report card is envisaged as a ‘cumulative’ one, and a weight of 15% for Class 9, 20% for Class 10, 25% for Class 11, and 40% for Class 12 will go into the final Class 12 results.
Another recommendation is that these assessments be in terms of credits in each grade, with the student earning a certain number of credits for each subject, for pursuing online courses, and for activities that are part of the holistic progress card – a progress card which will include the student’s evaluation of themselves in aspects like ‘time management’ and ‘plans after school’, the teacher’s assessment of the student in group project work, and peer feedback.
PARAKH has suggested that boards develop a cadre of ‘professional paper setters’ –teachers who will be trained to prepare question papers, to ensure standardisation in the assessments in classes 9, 10, 11 and 12.
For standardisation of question papers, PARAKH recommends that for classes 9 and 11, boards develop a question bank for all subjects offered. A blueprint to develop a question paper is also to be prepared and teachers in affiliated schools can prepare the question paper based on the question bank and the blueprint. Question paper blueprints have also been suggested for Class 10 and 12.
In terms of administration, PARAKH has suggested that the guidelines for school affiliation specified by the boards be finalised according to its recommendations. Boards lay down specific conditions that a school needs to meet to be affiliated to it – the CBSE, for instance, has conditions that include one that says that the school must be located on a single, contiguous plot of land, and a proper playground should exist in addition to a suitable building.
PARAKH’s recommendation says that the boards should conduct periodic reviews of affiliated schools, and affiliations should be granted for a maximum period of three years only. Since there are some States where the Directorate of Education recognises and affiliates schools, PARAKH has also recommended that the boards be empowered to do this, in addition to being given the authority to identify unrecognised institutions and take action against them.
The recommendations suggest that boards develop a mechanism to prevent cheating in examinations, implement protocol for handling exam papers, and conduct digital assessments where applicable.
In terms of curriculum, the boards are to incorporate digital literacy in affiliated schools, including training in coding and cybersecurity, and adhere to the National Curriculum Framework for School Education.
In terms of infrastructure of the schools affiliated with them, the boards are to ensure availability of basic infrastructure – toilets for girls and boys, internet, library, strongroom for question papers, labs, ramps, or elevators.
How were these recommendations arrived at?
A total of 32 boards, excluding the Sanskrit boards, madrasas, and technical boards from the total number in the country, were assessed according to the five parameters – administration, curriculum, assessment, inclusiveness, and infrastructure – to determine their present status. An analysis of two years’ worth of question papers of the boards, and a questionnaire with questions on five parameters was used for this. PARAKH held meetings with the school boards to work on the recommendations.
What happens next?
PARAKH had a conference with representatives of seven State boards last week to discuss the recommendations in the ‘equivalence’ report. The States have suggested that the Class 10 marks include 40% of the Class 9 score and 60% of Class 10, while the Class 12 marks could include 40% of the class 11 score and 60% of Class 12. Conferences with the rest of the boards are set to be held in August.
Since PARAKH’s analysis of the boards’ question papers and the questionnaire has given boards their present status, the official said that the boards will now have to prepare a roadmap that will entail how they intend to go about achieving the benchmarks that the ‘equivalence’ report specifies. Funding is also proposed, for the boards to work on the roadmap, the official added.
Another official in the Ministry of Education said that the ‘equivalence’ aspect is a “challenging” part of the NEP to implement and is set to be a slow process, since the boards will have to agree to making the changes that the report envisages, rather than just being “examination conducting bodies.”
The report suggests that PARAKH will monitor the implementation of the recommendations that it makes.
Students look on as they sit in their classroom. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi) 
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