West Bengal vows to pass on ISCE schools’ views to board

KOLKATA: Uncertainity over the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations’s decision to introduce external examination in classes V and VIII.
The heads of these institutes are going to meet education minister Partha Chatterjee soon. On Saturday, the higher education minister said: “I shall convey their views to the council if required.”
“On Friday, when the heads of 30 minority schools met, a lot of issues were discussed relating to the council’s arbitrary policy.We will now meet in mid-July and want to take it up with the state. However, we are yet to decide a date to meet the minister. Whether we approach the government to intervene before the next meeting or after will be decided so- on,” said the principal of a school.
Some of the reasons put forward by the Anglo-Indian schools in Friday’s meeting included the constant questions from anxious guardians about the examinations and the fear of additional stress on students. “The council has decided to introduce two exams in classes V and VIII. But we only want to prepare the students for the ICSE and ISC. The children are very raw at this stage. How can we give them more stress?” questioned principal of a school in Kidderpore.
“Parents are more anxious that children should bring good marks. As a result, even if the council tries to reduce tension by saying the examinations will be styled on MCQ-type questions and results not bearing on promotions, parents will still want their children to secure the best scores. As a result, there is a possibility that students will be sent to tuitions more.”
A section of the parents have already approached school authorities requesting them to take their message forward. “They have requested us to inform the council to review the policy,” said a principal.
The council said the students will be tested on four subjects — English, mathematics, social studies and science. The board will prepare reports on each subject for every student (it may be in the format of comments and not marks) and hand these over to the council, school and parents.
They have also assured that the students won’t require additional preparation for these exams, which will be aptitude-based. The objective of the exams is to check that schools are following the pr-escribed curriculum, to assess the success and weakness of the syllabus and shed light on quality of teaching.
“The schedule will go haywire. We run on a tight academic calendar. In order to prepare for the exams, some students may take sudden leave, hampering their attendance. Also, a cost factor is to be involved as there will be an assessment. The cost will have to be borne by guardians,” the principal added.
However, there is a section of CISCE-affiliated schools who don’t want to pre-judge the decision. “It will bring uniformity in the curriculum. The decision can be interpreted in various ways. We want to wait till it is rolled out,” said secretary of La Martniere Schools, Supriyo Dhar.