Most of the teachers, I meet these days have been turning euphoric thanks to the recent decision of introducing board exams for junior classes. This news is being received with such euphoria that it is being welcomed as nothing less than a ‘golden era’ in education! The level of excitement has personally left me wondering about how such a significant percentage of teachers are supporting the introduction of board exam in junior classes. I am not able to comprehend their joy.
Further, the notification is out and CBSE has introduced the board exam in class 10th. This needs to be seen as a major setback to progressive liberal forces in India and a drastic departure from modernity to a regressive and repressive era. The current dispensation at the centre has reiterated that fear should be the central criteria of education and board exam is the tool to enforce it. This is completely absurd and wreaks of hypocrisy as, on one hand, the PM talks about ‘Smile More and score more’ and on the other hand, these Board Exam just aim to do the opposite by creating fear among the students.
The major argument given in favour of the board exam is that students have become less serious as they don’t fear exam. This argument actually forces us to think about the whole idea of schooling. I believe that the school as an organisation was imagined by the society when society became complex and the members of the society might have felt that the family and community are no longer in the situation to give proper training to young ones for the preparation of life and therefore they need a group of experts who could do this work on behalf of the family and the community. Today, when we see the process of schooling, we find ourselves digressed from the original idea of schooling with examinations having taken a central place and it seems that schools exist for the examination. In this context, the introduction of board exams would impact the teaching- learning environment in the school. The teaching- learning environment in the school would be reoriented for the board exam. The focus of all the activity would be to prepare the students for the board. Students would be encouraged to learn only the things which would be suitable for the board exam. This would lead to the rejection of a host of knowledge which may find a place in the school otherwise.
Another interesting argument is given in favour of the introduction of board exam is that the absence of board exam has resulted in the decline of quality education. The argument appears very powerful and tempting and can be used so easily to convince any ordinary. We love the word ‘quality’ but how many of us do really understand what it means to have ‘quality education’? What it takes to ensure this kind of education? Who sets the standards and who should set the standards of quality education?
Let’s have a look at what the CBSE data is suggesting:
yearPass Percentage XPass Percentage XII
200988.8381.00
201089.2879.87
201196.6180.88
201298.7682.10
201498.8782.66
201597.3282
Source- CBSE website
The table reflects that since the board exam was discontinued in 2009-10 the pass percentage in class 10th jumped from Approximately 88% to 98%. On the other hand, the pass percentage of class 12th remained consistent at around 80-81 percent. It shows that relatively a larger number of students who moved from class 10th to 11th could not impact the class 12th board result. It means 10% students moved out of our school with a 10th class certificate. This is only CBSE data. This country has many different boards and they have their own stories. This 10% student who could avail a 10th class certificate became a major concern for a large section of the population and for our policy makers as they are seen the perpetrator for the decline of quality education. These 10% students who entered the job market with the 10th class certificate and may land a better job, created such a big problem for our education system that the parliament will have to amend the right to education act and introduce board at several different levels to check that the ‘undesired students’ don’t get a certificate.
In the list of arguments is this another absurd one – injustice with the intelligent students. Seriously?! They state that the promotion of ‘undeserving students’ questions the idea of Justice! This idea of justice vs. injustice forces us to think that what really justice means. How many times do we see people raising their voice against the widespread malnutrition in our country; the rising level of inequalities and crimes against women, children, Dalits and minorities? Where are the torchbearers of justice at these critical happenings in our country? Well, it seems that these issues do not come under the purview of ‘justice vs. injustice’ debate.
This idea of justice vs injustice also forces to think that how do we see success? I do see the parents, they are uncomfortable not because their ward scored 90% but that others’ children also scored the same. We have become a society wherein the success of one is measured in terms of others’ failures.
The people in favour also argue that the detention would restore seriousness among students. Here, I would like to share an experience. Last year, when I was teaching a section of class 9th, around 20 students were repeating that class as they could not pass the exam in Science and Maths. After a year of detention, they again failed in the same subjects. This is a very small data. I came across several research studies that too prove that detention doesn’t help in improving the quality of education. It is simply a humiliation for the students and can also be seen as the violation of children’s right.
While in the above section I questioned the long list of absurd arguments, I would also like to express my deeper concerns as a teacher and practitioner of education.
Weakening the agency of teachers– What a misfortune to see a large number of teachers were waiting impatiently for the introduction of the board exam. But more unfortunate is how teachers have overseen the loss of their agency and autonomy. Students whom they have taught for years would be left in the hand of the institution which cannot connect. The favourite students of yours who was doing extremely well in Music would be forced to pass in Math and you won’t be able to do anything. The CCE brought this opportunity for the teachers to assess the students closely and at the pace of the children and this helped many students to pass the exam.
Killing the space for creativity- Classroom has been imagined as space exclusively for students and teachers as they could teach and learn at their own pace. There was a huge scope for creative work which both the students and the teachers could undertake together in the classroom. The Board would kill this space. It would make the classroom space where technician works with the kids, not the teachers. The ultimate objective of all the activity would be to prepare for the exam.
In the school settings, we teach the students many other things which we actually don’t intend to teach. And perhaps such learning is far more important for them than what is laid out in the curriculum for their learning. In the context of the government school in cities, schools are not just a place of education; they are a site for children to socialise, play, have access to basic amenities such as clean drinking water, toilets and most importantly, interact with an alternate world through teachers. How can you assess all these through a board exam? Please don’t snatch the right to schooling from children as this right is nothing less to right to life.
I agree that the discontinuation of board exam created many problems but, this doesn’t mean that the idea to teach the children in a fear free environment is not practical. We need to think hard that how can we make it possible. 5-6 years of time is not enough to say that children would not learn unless they have the fear of board exam. We have traditionally been part of a hierarchical and authoritarian society and an experiment to break this would take time. The introduction of board exam at the various level would throw millions of students out of the school every year and in the coming few years this would add to many crores. In this context how can we imagine powerful India where crores of people would lack a school certificate. This would add to a population of Bhakts and Babas whose numbers are ever-growing and are thus a cause of great concern.
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