By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: General consensus has emerged at the talks Madhya Pradesh Education Minister Laxman Singh Gaud held with educationists on the issues of ending board examinations for class VIII and implementing semester system in school education here on Friday.
Introducing the subject, Education Minister Gaud said that the idea behind ending Board Exams for class VIII after abolishing class V board exams was that children must be helped get rid of the mentality that their main target was to pass the examinations by any means. A mere mention of Board exams sends a chill down the spine of not only children but their parents also and they are gripped by immense tension. During divisional level review meeting another startling fact came to the fore that every year about two lakh students do not appear at Board exams out of fear psychosis.
Educationist Arvind Bandi threw light on the subject and set the dialogue in motion. He also conducted the proceedings. Some educationists advocated for not abolishing the Board exams but after general discussion they also toed the line of ending Board exams.
Throwing light on the subject, educationist Tribhuvan Nath Shukla said that children make rigorous preparations for Board exam and abolishing it might lead to loss of interest and awareness among them. However, he changed his idea as the discussion reached its crescendo and favoured abolishing Board exam. Om Prakash was of the opinion VIII board exams should be abolished only after seeing the post-abolition results of class V. Dr Vivek Paskar said due to VIII Board exams, entire family lives under the shadow of terror. He said that exams should be conducted in less number and constant grading assessment system should be implemented. This would also end private coaching and other irregularities. The phenomena of pressure on children their loss of confidence due to exam also came to the fore.
DP Mishra opined that we should not be solely dependent on yearly exam for assessing students’ abilities. New methods of assessment should be discovered. Fearing the ‘ghost’ of Board exam, students stop taking part in sports and other recreational activities. This hinders students’ all round development. In advanced countries there is no one-sided thrust on exam as is being observed in India. Kesharwani said VIII Board exam is a checkpoint abolition of which could hamper all round development of students.
In Dr GP Sharma’s opinion, Board exams fill students with a creative psychological streak and they are inspired for perform well. At the same time, teachers also remain alert. Ghote opined that it was a wrong belief that good students would be produced only through Board exams. He said that the VIII Board exam draws entire attention of administration and teachers due to which education of lower classes is adversely affected.
Mrs. Hemlata Jain also came out in support of ending VIII Board exam. She said that quality of education should be improved right from class one. KL Nakda said that the race for appearing in the merit list of VIII Board exam has led to many ills. He said that only teaching work should be entrusted to teachers.
Public Instructions Commissioner SN Mishra also presented his views in support of ending VIII Board exam. He share his experience with others that at several places 95-96 per cent students pass in VIII Board exam but the class X results are very disappointing. At the same time, there is no importance of VIII Board exam results in finding a job.
Psychiatrist Sunil Khanna said that there is no justification of conducting exam at any level apart from Class X exam. Children need more practical knowledge than the bookish one. Arun Somani also supported the move the abolish VIII Board exams. Dr Prem Bharti stressed the need of general discussion on improvement of education instead of closed door decisions. He mooted the proposal to have class VIII exams through DIET or PGBT.
Senior educationist KK Asthana said that there is no need to conducted VIII Board exam. Unnecessary tension has been invited by constituting various exam board. He stressed the need of real uplift of students. Ambaram Karada and Govind Prasad also supported abolition of VIII Board exams.
In the second session, the issue of introducing semester system in school education right from class I and consensus emerged in favour of the issue. The Education Minister said that due to non-existence of semester system, children bunk the school throughout the year and try to pass the exam by making hectic preparations two months before the exam. The semester system would ensure regular attendance of both teachers and students.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Gaud told the educationists that the state government has take a firm stand against deputing teachers for non-teaching works. Strict ban has been imposed on teachers leaving the school for taking mail to headquarter, attending any meeting or for any other work. The educationists praised the steps taken by the Education Minister. ([email protected])