For high school students following the State syllabus, sitting for one test will not mean the end of exam season. This midterm, they will be sitting for multiple tests.
The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) has decided to conduct State-level “summative assessment tests” for students from classes 4 to 9, as part of the State Learning Achievement Survey. However, many schools are giving a preparatory test for high school students in the run-up to this test and are using question papers set by teachers’ associations and private printers. Apart from these two tests, all the students will also be given a practice test in the last week of October by KSEEB to familiarise them with the pattern of the paper.
A class 9 student of a government school said: “We have to write one midterm exam [that is] going on now and another in the first week of November. How many tests do we have to give? We have to spend the entire two months only on books. This will definitely increase our stress levels.”
The ongoing tests, which began on Thursday, are being conducted in several schools using question papers set by teachers’ associations, despite categorical instructions from the Department of Public Instruction that subject teachers should prepare the papers at the school level.
The department made this decision because of the instances of alleged paper leak and of the high cost of question papers — the profits of which would go to the association. Schools have to pay ₹35 for an entire set of question papers for one student. Copies of question papers available with The Hindu show that a district-level midterm test has been set by the Bangalore North District High Schools’ Headmasters’ and Composite Pre-University College Principals’ Association.
Outsourcing work
“Every year the department says the exams should be conducted at the school level. But this will increase the expenditure of the schools. So we decided to do it for class 10. For classes 8 and 9, a private printer is supplying the papers,” said H. Pillanjanappa, president of the association. He also said that while the summative assessment by KSEEB will be largely based on multiple-choice tests, there is a need for students to get accustomed to descriptive questions and so, they are sitting for such a test now.
D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said as there is “a lot of confusion” among school managements, the department should issue a stern warning once again to schools to not procure question papers.
Philomena Lobo, Director of Secondary Education, said she would issue notice to the Deputy Directors of Public Instruction seeking an explanation.
