The examination is one of the crucial components of the education of a student as it is the only means by which students can move ahead in their studies. Examinations are typically used to assess a student’s knowledge and understanding at a specific point in time. They often focus on testing the recall and application of information. Examinations typically consist of written tests, multiple-choice questions, and/or essay questions. They are often time-bound, emphasizing speed and efficiency. It has been observed that the examination system checks only the curricular component of a student and that too cognitive domain leaving the other two i.e. affective and psychomotor domains untouched and discouraging the co-curricular areas like skills and other components related to the practical life of a student. It also promotes the rote learning of the content which results in a defective education system.
The examination system often leads to anxiety, fear, stress and other mental issues among the students thereby hindering their progress and growth. From time to time several education commissions tried to bring changes in the evaluation system and it was only the National Policy on Education 1968 that developed and recommended the concept of evaluation to replace the existing examination system. It argued for comprehensive evaluation including performance in both scholastic and non-scholastic aspects of examination. The National Policy on Education 1986 visualised evaluation as an integral part of the teaching-learning process that provides evidence of a child’s growth and development. While delineating the objectives it stated that continuous and comprehensive evaluation of students’ growth and development in both scholastic as well as non-scholastic areas spread over the total span of teaching-learning time.
The concept of continuous and comprehensive evaluation has been in use for over 30 years in the literature of school education in India. It was used for the purpose of understanding and labelling the growth and development of children as a result of the teaching-learning process in school. CCE aims to provide a more holistic assessment of a student’s overall development, not just their academic performance. It considered various aspects like academics, co-curricular activities, and personal development. The extensive use of CCE and the freedom of every school, institution and individual to devise their own scheme of CCE brought much confusion in the minds of the masses leading to the loss of credibility of the scheme as well as the system.
In order to overcome the shortcomings and maladies that crept in during the implementation of CCE causing serious malfunctioning, school-based assessment has been proposed as next-generation assessment.
The term ‘School Based Assessment’ may be defined as an assessment that facilitates the attainment of competencies specified in terms of learning outcomes in a holistic manner during the teaching-learning process. This type of assessment integrates teaching Learning and assessment. The school-based assessment helps monitor the quality of education at the micro level however, it is equally important for the other stakeholders at different levels – the block, district, state or even the national level to assess the health of the system, and it needs to be done in a manner that doesn’t burden the teachers and affect their teaching-learning. Keeping in view the large scale of macro evaluations, a written test (with MCQs) is the most common choice which may not provide a comprehensive picture of a child’s personality yet it doesn’t reflect the quality of education in a school, block, district etc. More important is to look at both the central evaluation and the school-based assessment separately deserve meaningful implications for different stakeholders at different levels. The prime objective of assessment is to decode the learning needs of children to allow them to build on their strengths and support them to overcome the gaps in learning, if any.
Assessment of learning not only just requires understanding of what kind of learning is desired but also the criteria against which it could be assessed. Most often, the stakeholders conducting the macro or school-based assessment are not clear about it as teachers consider textbooks to be the complete curriculum and assess children using questions given in the unit-end exercises whereas the examination and achievement surveys use some MCQs without a clear rationale about the competencies being assessed and the learning behind each of them. The subject woes learning outcomes for each class, not only apprise different stakeholders, of the criteria of assessment but also enable those at the school level to ensure quality education. So the learning outcomes defined explicitly can guide and ensure the responsibility and accountability of different stakeholders for the accomplishments of expectations in different curricular areas.
School-based assessment mainly serves three different purposes. First is assessment for learning. Since assessment is an integral part of education occurs continuously during teaching learning. Assessment needs to be multiple evidence based which requires tapping different sources to collect information using a range of activities that the child participates in both inside and outside the classroom on different aspects of learning i.e. knowledge, performance, skills, interests, attitudes and motivation. This helps teachers not only to understand the learning gaps of each child but also to reflect, review and modify their teaching-learning as per the needs and learning styles of the students. The second one is assessment as learning. This requires providing opportunities and space for the students to critically assess, reflect and analyse their own work during the teaching-learning process and identify their strengths and gaps. They may be encouraged to assess themselves and reflect on peer and group work. It enhances a child’s confidence and helps develop abilities for lifelong learning.
The third one is the assessment of learning. It is used to benchmark students learning against criteria based on identified curricular aims and objectives. Teachers map the students’ progress in processes of learning based on evidence collected using information from individuals, groups and self or peer assessment. A profile for each child is maintained to compile the progress of the child in comparison to the previous performance. The teacher may record these observations to monitor the learning progress of each child as and when required.
In embracing school-based assessment, the education system moves toward a more comprehensive and student-centred approach, addressing the limitations of traditional examinations. By focusing on holistic development and individual growth, this approach ensures that assessments align with the diverse needs of students, providing a foundation for lifelong learning and success in practical, real-world scenarios.
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Nisar Hussain Hajam