Centralised Evaluation Practices

Abstract

The evaluation of students’ learning has been the central focus in Indian schools for a very long time. Teachers and school administrators in most schools train students from the very beginning to sit for the examinations conducted at the end of Classes X and XII. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (popularly known as RTE) Act, 2009 attempts to ensure the availability of quality schooling and the provision of good facilities for children in the age group 6–14 years. This is the first law in India that has provisions for the evaluation of students’ learning, and has led government agencies to prepare evaluation plans for implementation in schools. The continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) scheme, recently formulated by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), is being implemented in schools affiliated to the board. However, the current CCE practices need a serious re-examination because they not only thwart other curricular reforms but also because they are not in consonance with the goals stated in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005 and in RTE, 2009.