Mumbai: On October 7, the School Education Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Deepak Kesarkar, said that the state government is mulling examinations for children studying in classes 3 to 8. He added that the government would set up a panel comprising psychologists to reach a decision. It's been ten years now that neither the terminal exams nor unit tests for these students get conducted. The minister further stated, “We don’t want any student to be declared fail in these examinations till class 8.” Parents, principals, teachers, and students, all have developed mixed opinions over the statements and are eagerly waiting for the final decision to be made. A psychiatrist also expressed his views on the same.
Psychiatrist Dr Dayal Mirchandani said that no matter what one thinks, exams should be held to make kids used to the pressure that they might face in the future. “However,” he said, “ideally exams should be conducted for kids who are in grade 6 or more. It wouldn’t make sense to me if someone tells me that exams for Grade 3 students are going to take place. Before that age, children are easily pressurized by parents and are compared with their friends. That isn’t right. It may affect them to know that their friends may have scored better.”
Reactions of Principals
Mrs Suma Das, Principal, Pawar Public School Bhandup, said, “I think that exams in the form of formative assessments should be held for students. The continuous writing pattern of exams just talks about the kids’ rote memory which is of no use in the outer world.” She reiterated the importance of change that is required in the present curriculum. She mentioned how important it is to provide kids with the applications of knowledge. She further added, “If the exams don’t take place, it might be difficult for children to grasp concepts in higher grades as they wouldn’t know where they exactly stand.”
Knowledge is presently available with just the click of a button. It is, however, necessary for the schools to make sure that the child can understand whatever is taught. The children should be taught in such a manner that they feel the thirst for knowledge and if the exams are held appropriately, half the battle is already won.
“As every child has wasted two years in the pandemic, most of them have lost their practice of writing. Hence, kids must appear for examinations frequently even if it holds just a few marks and not 100 marks entirely,” said the principal, Mrs Lilawati Singh, of the New BMC School, Sion.
Most teachers think that exams should be held
Mrs Sangeeta, a teacher from St. Anthony’s Girl’s High School, Chembur, said, “The exams must be conducted. It ensures at least some kind of learning is taking place. If not writing, then at least some sort of evaluation is important as a tool to judge the kids.”
On the other hand, Mrs Tejashree Jamnerkar, a teacher at Dombivli’s Kidland English School said, “The lack of writing practice has taken a toll on the kids. Hence, they must appear for long papers that require a lot of writing as they need to pick up the pace. A grading system is a good option to avoid comparison between kids, but in my opinion, if exams aren’t held then it’s of no use for children, as well as the parents.”
A tuition teacher from Powai, Aditi Devadiga, also shared her views on the situation. She also said that the exams should be conducted so that parents are aware of whatever is going on in school. She further added, “If exams aren’t held it becomes difficult for kids in their higher grades to complete the portion because they would have never experienced the importance of finishing the portion before that.”
Parents’ opine on the lingering decision
“I think that exams should not be held for children who are just in grade 3. They are too small to be judged. Observing them can rather be a better option so that they can playfully be taught what they’re doing wrong,” said Mrs Saroj Shah, a parent from Malad. Another parent, Kavita Gadade from Ghatkopar said, “Exams should not only be held but students should also be declared fail if they don’t perform well. This helps them in future when they have to appear for even important exams. If they never fail despite poor performance, they will never have their base strong and they’ll always be unaware of their weaknesses.”
Children’s feelings and thoughts on exams
Rihaan Mehta, a grade 5 student from Malad said, “I wouldn’t like to appear for exams. I’d rather playfully learn concepts and it would be more comfortable for me to practice my work daily and not be judged by the year-end exam. I don’t like being compared to my friends.”
Parents usually make comparisons between their kids over marks and grades. For them, it is just a matter of a few numbers but they usually don’t understand where the child comes from. Hence, most children don’t like appearing for exams at a young age.
Krishika Shetty, a student from Matunga, who is studying in grade 8 said that she wouldn’t mind if exams are held for her. But she said that it could have been a problem for her if exams were held in lower grades because she was not a quick learner previously and she would have ended up scoring less.
