The role of proficiency tests

January 26, 2011 02:03 am | Updated November 26, 2021 10:23 pm IST - CHENNAI:

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted a proficiency test for students of class X to test their aptitude, irrespective of their choice on taking the board examination.

The proficiency tests, which some students took a few days ago, covered different subjects. The CBSE is said to have developed it along with institutions such as the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and the Indian Council of Social Science Research. According to heads of several schools affiliated to the CBSE, only a small percentage of their class X students took the test. At Sivaswami Kalalaya Senior Secondary School, for instance, only one-third of the students opted to take the proficiency test. SBOA Senior Secondary School had about half the total strength of class X students taking the examination. School heads said that more students were likely to take the examination next year, as they would have a better idea about what to expect. In a meeting with school heads in the city a few months ago, CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi had said the proficiency test would help students know where they stood in comparison to their peers.

Some parents think the experience is useful. S.Radhika, mother of a class X student going to a CBSE school in Adyar, said: “Almost all the examinations at school level test children's memory, but invariably all important competitive examinations in higher education are aptitude tests. I think this will be a good experience for students.

Aptitude tests have distinct objectives, says S. Balasubramanian, Director, T.I.M.E, Chennai Centre, an institute that specialises in training B-school aspirants for the Common Aptitude Test (CAT).

“An aptitude test seeks to test a students' ability to apply knowledge. It may have questions in mathematics or English, but essentially, the aim is to check the student's potential for problem-solving and reasoning,” he said.

Given a situation, is there potential for making connections using current knowledge and coming up with solutions? – That is the real test, Mr. Balasubramanian emphasises.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.