Dr Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, KiiT International School, “The batch of 2020-2021 board students have faced the most uncertain academic year in recent history. It is high time to put their anxiety to rest and help them move forward in their career and educational journey. We welcome the assessment that has been given a nod by our honourable Supreme Court as it gives a concrete direction to the marking scheme. As a responsible school, we will take the best interest of the students while marking them. One aspect that could do with further deliberation is that we often see some students reach their true potential in the later part of their school years. The results of these late bloomers might have some implication if they have not had decent scores in two of the three classes to be taken into consideration. However, keeping the option of taking the class 12 exams open for such students is again a positive step.”
“The scheme that the CBSE board has adopted to assess Class XII students could use some tweaking. We had five general subjects in Class X with no choice in what we studied, as compared to class XI and XII where we actually got to experience subject flexibility. Allotting 30% weightage to class X marks is rather unfair. While it was indeed valuable in our formative years, it should be given less attention to than XI and XII. In the case of class XI, it is widely believed that it is the least serious academic year as students get used to the new rhythm of learning and hence many students did not perform exceptionally! The main focus here should be on our class XII marks, where a lot of us focused our efforts in.” said Sarthak Vedant Mohanty, KiiT International School, Class-XII Humanities, Batch of '21. CLASS 12 EXAM EVALUATION CRITERIA BY DR MONA LISA BAL, CHAIRPERSON, KIIT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL18/6/2021 Dr Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, KiiT International School, “The batch of 2020-2021 board students have faced the most uncertain academic year in recent history. It is high time to put their anxiety to rest and help them move forward in their career and educational journey. We welcome the assessment that has been given a nod by our honourable Supreme Court as it gives a concrete direction to the marking scheme. As a responsible school, we will take the best interest of the students while marking them. One aspect that could do with further deliberation is that we often see some students reach their true potential in the later part of their school years. The results of these late bloomers might have some implication if they have not had decent scores in two of the three classes to be taken into consideration. However, keeping the option of taking the class 12 exams open for such students is again a positive step.”
“The scheme that the CBSE board has adopted to assess Class XII students could use some tweaking. We had five general subjects in Class X with no choice in what we studied, as compared to class XI and XII where we actually got to experience subject flexibility. Allotting 30% weightage to class X marks is rather unfair. While it was indeed valuable in our formative years, it should be given less attention to than XI and XII. In the case of class XI, it is widely believed that it is the least serious academic year as students get used to the new rhythm of learning and hence many students did not perform exceptionally! The main focus here should be on our class XII marks, where a lot of us focused our efforts in.” said Sarthak Vedant Mohanty, KiiT International School, Class-XII Humanities, Batch of ’21. A lot of questions are still to be answered on whether cut-offs across colleges will rise over standardised marking and whether marksheet delays would lead to study abroad plans getting affected. M SARASWATHY JUNE 18, 2021 / 10:36 AM IST Seventeen-year-old Vanita Gupta of Mumbai had months of sleepless nights over what would be the final method to bring out the board exam marksheets for her CBSE 12th standard. Gupta's concerns about the assessment methodology are over. But she is now wondering if she would be able to make it to the application deadline in Australia. On June 17, the Supreme Court (SC) accepted the assessment by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) where they decided to take into account the performance in Class 10, 11 and 12 to bring out the final marksheet. This means that your board exam scores of Class 10 will play an equal role in the Class 12 marksheet. CBSE also told the apex court that it will bring out the final marksheet by July 31. But scores of students like Gupta are worried about missing their foreign education admission deadlines, especially in places like Australia and New Zealand. "I had to submit all my marksheets by the first week of July to the institutes I applied to. While I had requested for a provisional marksheet that could be submitted, the school refused to give it since CBSE doesn't permit it," said Gupta. Navin Pastakhia, a Class 12 student in Bardez, Goa has similar concerns. He has applied for hotel management courses at five institutes in New Zealand and is worried about whether his admission proposal would be rejected because of delay in marksheet submission. "I wish the assessment decision was taken earlier. If my proposal is rejected, I will have to stay back in India and pursue the course here. Because wasting one academic year is not a viable option," he added. In the assessment scheme, Attorney-General for India KK Venugopal appearing for CBSE said that for Class 12 students, the board will give 30 weightage to final scores from Class 10, 30 percent for Class 11 and 40 percent for Class 12. The final marksheet will be prepared on the basis of these scores. The board exams were cancelled on June 2 in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in India amidst the second wave. Every year, close to 1.2 million students appear for CBSE Class XII examinations across the country. What are the concerns? The assessment scheme would require schools to go back and refer to the old scores. This has brought some fears of unfair advantage in some schools that could creep into the system, especially due to the weightage system. Dr. Sindhura, MD of education conglomerate The Narayana Group said that there will be uniformity and no student will be at a disadvantage. However, she added that due to the weightage system there will be discrepancies since these exams were conducted internally by schools, and marking schemes vary from school to school putting some students at a disadvantage. "Perhaps weightage given to Class 11 could have been reduced or Only the top 3 subjects from Class 11 final exams and Class 12 mid-terms or finals could have been considered," she said. It is not just the students' performance, but the individual school's performance that will be taken into account. CBSE will be taken into account the past three-year performance of the school while CISCE will look at the past six years' performance of the institution. This is to ensure that students of schools with average to below average scores don't get any unfair advantage through the internal assessment system in the final marksheet. Dr Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, KiiT International School said that one aspect that could do with further deliberation is that we often see some students reach their true potential in the later part of their school years. "The results of these late bloomers might have some implication if they have not had decent scores in two of the three classes to be taken into consideration. However, keeping the option of taking the class 12 exams open for such students is again a positive step," she added. There is also confusion about what happens to students who have missed or or more internal assessments and practical tests due to COVID-19. Abhishek Paul, an 18-year-old Class 12 student in Purulia, West Bengal told Moneycontrol that he had missed two internal assessments in 2020 due to being ill and medical emergencies. "I had contracted COVID-19 in August 2020 and took more than a month to recover. By that time, I had missed the internal assessment. In February my mother contracted the virus and hence I had to take some time off. Now, the school is not clarifying how I will be marked," he added. CBSE has said that schools can adopt an 'objective assessment' for students who have missed multiple internal tests. But, it is not clear what is the deadline for conducting these tests and what should be the syllabus. Another area of confusion is for students who switched to the CBSE board after Class 10. Madhura Tirkey, an 18-year-old student in Ranchi had pursued her Class 10 from the state board in Jharkhand and later switched to a CBSE school. She is worried about how the standardisation method will work. "CBSE has said that schools will have to 'proportionally change' the marks before uploading it in case a student pursued Class 10 from a different board. Now how will they do it?" she questioned. State education boards in places like Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu are termed to be lenient in their board exam marking system. Hence, it is not clear how will the marks be proportionally changed. Standardised marking with weightage system would also mean that cut-offs at undergraduate programmes in India would automatically rise. It is expected that there could be a 1 percent rise in cutoffs making it tough for students to get admission to their desired course and institute. Moneycontrol had reported earlier how tougher entry criteria with higher admission cutoffs are being planned across colleges due to non-exam based marksheet system being adopted. What about study abroad? For study abroad aspirants, the biggest challenge is missing the deadline. While students had requested CBSE to allow 'provisional marksheets' for study abroad, no such exception has been made. Shishir Oberoi, a Class 12 CBSE student in Bengaluru is concerned that the universities he applied to in the United States may not accept this tabulation policy. "I am looking to pursue a computer science course in the US. I am wondering if this final marksheet policy based on internal assessment and Class 10 results will be acceptable there," he added. CBSE has said that students who are not satisfied with the assessment methodology will be allowed to appear for physical exams at a later date. Oberoi told Moneycontrol that he is ready to appear for exams since he is fully prepared. But doing that would mean that his final marksheet would be further delayed and admissions in the US would close. An unrelated but added concern is getting the vaccination on time so that the deadline to go to campus is met. Kiera Choudhary, a 18-year-old medical aspirant from Ludhiana got an extension to submit her marksheet till the first week of July in Australia. However, she is not yet fully vaccinated which is a pre-requisite to be allowed in campus. For Oberoi, Choudhary, Gupta, Pastakhia, Tirkey and several other students, the wait-and-watch period continues. Kanika Khurana Updated Jun 18, 2021 | 07:45 IST CBSE Class 12 Result 2021 Tabulation Policy has been welcomed by school principals, who term it as a move towards ending the confusion of lakhs. Many have, however, raised questions over including XI marks. Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE yesterday released the tabulation policy for computation of Class 12 result 2021. Supreme Court has also given its nod to the policy, clearing the way for the result work to commence. As for the school principals, the decision has been welcomed at large, except few concerns and ambiguities in the policy.
Dr Madhav Deo Saraswat, Principal The Scindia School said that with no exams, the decision of CBSE is more than welcome. “The fact that so many students would've travelled and moved to various centers, would've put millions at risk of covid19. I do appreciate that best three performing subjects out of main five subjects of Class X shall be considered for result. However, my suggestion would be to include 30% from class X and 70% from class XII. Students take it easy in class XI, and class X result data is more reliable,” he added. On the overall merit of the evaluation, he said that it was time for us to investigate the reliance on one exam. “The current situation should be used to create holistic assessments which include, apart from Academics, their Physical, Emotional, Spiritual and Psychological developments too. At the moment, we are too cognitive in our educational assessment; may be, a slight shift from that stand would do well for society. The fact that we are reimagining class XII results this year maybe a good beginning!” he said. Speaking in favour of the policy, Ms. Reema Rai, Principal AIS shares that it was a good way to standardise the result and give a fairer judgement to students. There were, however, a few areas of concerns which require further clarity. “Considering marks for three years is perhaps a fair way to judge the overall performance of the student. However, for the students who struggled in their Class 11, the criteria could raise concerns. There are many students who fail in Class 11 or score much less than what they end up scoring in Class 12. For such students, the criteria of 30:30:40 may impact their final result. While the board has given the option of improving their score, it is not truly easy for the student to go back once the process of admissions begin!” she opines. Raising the same concerns, Dr Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, KiiT International School said “ One aspect that could do with further deliberation is that we often see some students reach their true potential in the later part of their school years. The results of these late bloomers might have some implication if they have not had decent scores in two of the three classes to be taken into consideration. However, keeping the option of taking the class 12 exams open for such students is again a positive step.” “The batch of 2020-2021 board students have faced the most uncertain academic year in recent history. It is high time to put their anxiety to rest and help them move forward in their career and educational journey. We welcome the assessment that has been given a nod by our honourable Supreme Court as it gives a concrete direction to the marking scheme. As a responsible school, we will take the best interest of the students while marking them,” she adds. Dr. Sindhura, MD, the Narayana Group says that the policy would provide ‘uniformity and no student will be at a disadvantage’. As for the grey areas, he says that Class 11 and 12 score may raise concerns. “There will be discrepancies since these exams were conducted internally by schools, and marking schemes vary from school to school putting some students at a disadvantage. Perhaps weightage given to Class XI could have been reduced or only the top 3 subjects from Class XI final exams and Class XII mid-terms or finals could have been considered.” “Another point of ambiguity is that the total marks awarded should closely match a school’s past performance in the CBSE Class XII board examinations. While this is fine in theory, CBSE needs to define the parameters more clearly and the process on how outliers will be determined and reviewed. Past performance does not necessarily indicate the potential of the present batch of students” he says. Ms. Sumita Vij, PGT English at Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Ghaziabad calls it a practicable solution but errs on the site of caution. “This pattern come with its set of positives and negatives. Considering the marks of Class 10, best of three subjects from 5 subjects is a good move as it is a standardized version and gives uniformity to all students. Taking up class XI grades however would not ascertain uniformity for all students as many are focused on the preparation of competitive examinations like JEE, NEET, CLAT etc. and thereby do tend to lose track but they capture the essence of Board Examinations in grade XII,” she says. By Dr Mona Lisa Bal The concentration span of children in an online class is a matter of emerging concern and (inset) Dr Mona Lisa Bal. IMAGE SOURCE: School and Pixabay The entire school community is trying to help students thrive in a space largely monopolised by a virtual world.
The academic impact of the learning gaps created by the pandemic is difficult to measure in the present time. Children are missing out on mastering writing, reading and numeracy skills. Learning inequities have been widened as there are no tests to assess students. Students writing tests at home could have had the assistance of elders. Schools operating remotely are unable to address the skill enhancement of students. Students without internet, laptops and belonging to lower-income groups will have a greater learning loss. The concentration span of children is a matter of emerging concern. The earlier excitement seen in the initial days of online classes, especially in students below 10 years of age, has seen a downward slope. Nurturing basic skills of reading and writing in young students virtually is proving to be strenuous and dull therefore leading to gaps accompanied by shrinking focus. Moreover, during the progress of a serious lesson, the entry of family members interrupts the gravity of a lesson. Simultaneously, flexible timings, eating during classes and exiting at will are common problems. • A total of 320 million learners in India have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and have transitioned to e-learning • With huge regional and household disparities in access to the internet and technology, this transition has not been possible for all students and educators • The rapid shift to e-learning prompted by the pandemic has revived long-standing issues of inequality and a digital divide in India that must be addressed by future economic, education and digitalisation policies Teachers complain that reduced hours of teaching have complicated things. According to most teachers, it is almost impossible to complete reading tasks in a class involving more than five to six children as the already depleting concentration and attention start wandering. Attention span, they say, is shorter at home than at school. Teachers say online classes for them is like an attempt to learn to drive on a road while simultaneously covering it with concrete, shooing cows off the road and following manual directions. Physical classes are driven by students, their responses and reactions — hands in the air, faces lit up, fist bumps when they share a new idea. It is a feeling of being lost without the daily hugs and dose of reality that is exchanged. Teaching involves human connection; teachers feel that has been taken away from them. No amount of online learning can replace the power and potential of the student-teacher relationship and the learning that happens in that context. Teaching is not trying to figure out how Zoom works or staring at the screen all day. Teaching is loving the children and building a connection, crying with them, laughing with them, creating memories which children carry lifelong. On the other hand, students say they feel less productive and miss the social aspect of school. Internet access, Wi-Fi problems persist in many places. Unable to join the online classes and keep up with assignments, students feel stressed and tend to procrastinate. This could also lead to a feeling of isolation. Standardised tests might traumatise them further. This generation is learning a lot outside the physical classroom. How nations are coping with a pandemic, helplessness of governments to respond to uncertainties and unpreparedness to address health issues, family losses, housing instability, illness, job losses. Pandemic-related disruptions and remote schools have held back many students from going up the ladder. It will be unjustified to have them repeat a grade or offering them below the grade level work will make them feel bad. To bridge the learning gap in school, tutoring from trained teachers ideally one on one or in small groups can help students catch up academically. The way forward would be to enhance the digital skills of teachers and children. Moreover, state and central governments must ensure internet connectivity for all. During these uncertain times, the nation must work on capacity-building of young minds. The author is chairperson, KiiT International School. ORISSA POST Click on the left link or on image to explore the article
Mumbai News Network Latest News “Following multiple requests from students all over the country, our Hon’ble PM’s decision to cancel the CBSE Class 12 Exams and the CISCE board following suit, is a long-awaited and much needed step. With the alarming rise in COVID positive cases across the country, cancellation of the exams has brought relief to both students and their guardians alike. Especially since the second wave has seen the youth getting affected more. Conducting a crucial examination amidst a pandemic could have posed several challenges for the schools. Moreover, the impending third wave is expected to affect more youth, with the changing nature of the Virus. Hence, this decision is an absolute need of the hour as the health and safety of our children is of the utmost importance. A well-defined objective criterion is the best possible solution for compiling of the results of one of most critical examinations of a student’s career. Schools will be waiting for the detailed criteria expected to be released by the Board soon as it will put to rest speculations. Furthermore, keeping the option of availing written tests open, at a later date, for those unhappy with these results also provides every student with an equal opportunity. Pupils can use all their preparation and time to focus on the various national level competitive examinations which will help shape their career.” - Dr Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, KiiT International School.
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Dr. Monalisa Bal chairpersonDr. Mona Lisa Bal graduated in Political Science with honors from Calcutta University and post-graduated from Utkal University. She is also a post graduate in Business Administration from KIIT University. She did her Doctorate in “Effective Learning in a Joyful Environment”, culminating into publication of a pioneering book “Transformation in the Pedagogy of Education in India”. pUBLISHED BOOKSArchives
January 2024
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