Tenth standard students feel CCE system has not reduced burden

Darshini, a class 10 student of a government school in North Bengaluru feels that the internal assessments in some subjects are “tricky” because they are “vague” and not defined by some teachers.

For instance, her Hindi teacher told students to write a minimum of four pages on any topic from their prescribed text for one of their formative assessments. While one student wrote on poems, another on Hindi grammar lessons, a third student, who was confused, wrote on both poems and grammar lessons.

With the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system introduced for class 10 for the first time this year, students say the new pattern has not reduced the burden on them, but in fact has added to it.

Shilpa M., a tenth grader, says that while some teachers use innovative activities in classrooms to assess students, some others merely give projects and assignments, which consume a lot of time.

“Our preparatory examinations begin by month-end and the fourth formative assessment is in February. Our year-end examinations are in March. When do we get the time to study?” she asks.

However, officials of the Education Department say that internal assessments should not be viewed as parallel to classroom interactions.

“The purpose of CCE should be to ensure that the weakest student is benefited from the system. Some students may not able to explain concepts on paper, but are able to express them through narration or story-telling,” an official said, adding that the success of the system completely depends on the teacher.

However, teachers say that with the large pupil-teacher ratios, implementing the system is a challenge as adequate training was not provided to them. H.K. Manjunath, president of the High School Assistant Masters Association, who met the senior officials of the Education Department earlier this month, said that documentation was a huge burden on the teachers. Besides, he pointed out that the pattern and the training for CCE was given late into the academic year.

Yashoda Bopanna, director, Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board, said a committee would be formed to obtain and analyse feedback from the teachers and students.