State schools to take pre-tests from June 17 to bridge gaps
MUMBAI: Students studying in standards two through ten, in state-board schools, will undergo two days of ‘pre-testing’ from June 17, to identify and bridge learning gaps they may be facing due to largely virtual schooling since the pandemic began.
This is in line with the State Council of Educational Research & Training (SCERT)’S ‘Setu Abhyaskram’. A circular detailing the programme calendar had been shared by SCERT on June 3, as per which June 17-18 will be pre-testing days to assess the gaps that students are facing in understanding their previous year’s portion in Marathi, English, general sciences, mathematics, and social sciences, in English, Marathi and Urdu-medium schools. From June 20 to July 23, over 30 working school days, teachers will conduct a comprehensive revision of the previous year’s syllabi, and students will be tested once again on July 25 and 26. “This will be a challenge for the teachers and also students, given the relatively short period of the programme. But we have been working on refining our lessons so that students can catch up easily. We will have to pay specific attention to the needs of every student,” said Sherly Paul, principal, Sheth MA High School, Andheri (west). At least two other principals from SSC schools in the city also expressed concern over the short duration of the course. We were expecting that the board may postpone the bridge course by a week as children have only just come back to school and are still adjusting,” said one of them. Vinod Tiwari, parent to two children, studying at an SSC school in Kalyan, said he has not received any formal intimation from the school regarding the programme. “But my children have so far not had any difficulties in keeping up with the portion because the teachers handled the online classes well,” he added.