The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), henceforth, will prepare a uniform question paper for the formative assessment tests conducted by schools as part of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) pattern of education.
The Formative Assessment (FA) comprises 50 marks, ten marks each for a student’s response in the classroom, project works and writing works (30 marks) and a written slip test for 20 marks. Reports of malpractice resorted to by private schools in awarding marks is said to be the reason for the move.
Formative Assessment is used by the teacher to continuously monitor a student’s progress in a congenial environment, while Summative Assessment (SA) comes at the end of a course of learning to see how much a student has learned. Deviating from the traditional examination system where students wrote four unit tests and one quarterly, half-yearly and final examination in an academic year, under CCE, they write four formative and two summative examinations.
There are reports that teachers in some private schools had been buying question papers belonging to other schools available with private printers. “Moreover, question papers put together by private persons fall short of standards and their variation from district-to-district is another issue,” said B. Pratap Reddy, Director, SCERT, adding that the SCERT-designed question papers were being supplied to schools on an experimental basis.
The original plan was to send a soft copy of the question papers one hour before the commencement of the test, but they are being sent well in advance for the convenience of teachers who do not have Internet facility. “It is important to ensure that the question papers reach all students,” he said, adding that based on the results, the teachers should identify their focus areas.
“A common question paper will bring in a discipline,” said Suresh, a grade-II headmaster. Lalith Mohan, secretary, District Common Examination Board, said these tests are important as the internal marks are given weightage in the 10th class board examinations.
Teacher unions oppose
Teacher unions such as Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Federation (APTF) oppose the move. “Formative tests should be held by the teachers concerned as they know the syllabus covered. A common question paper, especially in the Coronavirus times when a large number of students are staying away from classroom teaching, would make things difficult for them,” said federation’s general secretary P. Panduranga Varaprasad Rao.