Class 10 internal assessments: Edu dept holds feasibility study

MUMBAI: More than two weeks after the Maharashtra government declared the cancellation of SSC (Class 10) exams, the education department on Saturday, asked schools to fill out a survey form indicating whether or not marking students on internal assessments will be feasible. The department has also sent out another survey form asking for feedback on the conduct of entrance exams for first-year junior colleges (FYJC), a plan that it has been mulling over the past few days after receiving suggestions to that effect.

Officials from the state education department did not respond to calls and messages.

Nearly 17 lakh students appear for the SSC exam from across nine divisions in the state every year. This year, due to rise in Covid-19 case and the resultant lockdown, the government decided to cancel the exams and announced the same on April 20. State education minister Varsha Gaikwad had announced that students will be marked based on internal assessments.

After a series of discussions with stakeholders including educationists, schools, teachers and parents, the education department has now asked schools to give their suggestions and objections on the proposed marking criteria for students. “This survey is conducted to know if there should be an internal assessment on a school level and if schools are prepared for that or not. Internal assessment will be based on online classes, Whatsapp-based teaching and assessment, online tests, term examinations, practice tests. Schools which did not undergo these processes will assess their students’ performance based on the performance of the student in Class 9,” stated the survey brief. The department has been mulling over several options like considering cumulative scores of students over the years, entrance exams and adding seats for junior college admissions this year.

Another survey has sought responses from students on the conduct of common entrance test (CET) for FYJC admissions. “All the aspirants will be eligible for this CET. There will be only one paper of 100 marks consisting of questions of all subjects and the duration will be two hours. This offline test is planned in July 2021 or after decline in Covid-19 cases following all SOPS,” stated the form.

Vikas Garad, deputy director, Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training, said that the survey was only conducted to take feedback and the final decision will not be dependent only on the survey results. “We just want to know if schools are in a position to give us details of internal assessments and whether they have such data,” he added.