NCERT plan to assess students

NEW DELHI : To make learning at the elementary level more child-friendly, the National Council of Educational Research and TrainSing (NCERT) has a plan. It will come out with a source book on the assessment of primary students.

There is a lot of emphasis on learning by rote in primary schools. Though directives have been issued by the educational bodies from time to time on making the teaching process more informal, but nothing seems to have changed on the ground.

The move also comes in the backdrop of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 which recommends that a child be assessed not just for his scholastic achievements in subjects like math or languages, but also in creative areas.

Accordingly, the NCERT source book will tell teachers how to implement what is often preached in a real environment and also spell out markers for the assessment of learning. 

“It is no longer enough to replicate ideas learnt by rote. Primary teaching at present is information oriented. You give kids a lot of books to read, but there is very little assessment of what he is learning,” said Shabnam Sinha, reader, department of elementary education, NCERT.

“We are closely following the Latin American model where they tried to ascertain the links between a child’s learning achievements and factors like the quality of teaching, help from parents, the environment of the place where he lives,” added an NCERT official.