In the absence of public examination for class seven students and with “no detention policy” in place, the government is keen to conduct an aptitude test to evaluate their learning capability.
Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar said there was a need for an evaluation test as the present system had no scope for detention or a test “to determine the level of performance of students”.
Not prepared
While Mr. Ratnakar is keen on conducting the test in the first week of January, the department officials seem sceptical of this target. Sources in the department said they would need at least four months to prepare and the process was yet to start.
“Not even a Government Order has been issued and we cannot conduct test for lakhs of students without a proper direction,” the source said. The teachers The Hindu spoke to were clueless about the plan, even though they are aware that “some talks were on”.
Meanwhile, the Minister said the evaluation test would have both narrative and objective-type papers.
“Answer scripts will be made available to parents so that they can assess the learning capability and take corrective steps,” Mr. Ratnakar said. Sources said the idea is to hold a meeting of parents whose wards performed poorly in the tests. The test will be for 100 marks in five subjects and the outcome will have no bearing on the annual results announced by respective schools.
On procurement of shoes for schoolchildren, the Minister said owing to the high cost of leather shoes, the government had been forced to opt for leather-cum-canvas-blended shoes for distribution. Tenders would be floated shortly, he said.
