"Real assessment of children's performance should be continuous and comprehensive in its nature", justify
Answers
Real assessment of children's performance should be continuous and comprehensive in its nature
Unequivocally, continuous and comprehensive is the real and scientifically better assessment. It is progressive and more student centric than the orthodox evaluation. CCE (continuous and comprehensive evaluation) Pattern has descended as a boon to students’ years of prayers. It has reduced the burden of studies from the mind of the students. Earlier the students had to memorize the entire year’s syllabus of all the subjects, making it really very hard for students. However, the CCE educational reforms have freed them of this burden. They have made the learning fun and exciting. The most important aspect of these reforms is they have made the education free of cut-throat competitiveness.
Before proceeding any further, it is essential to be familiarized with CCE. CCE refers to a system of school based evaluation of student that covers all aspects of student development. The major emphasis of CCE is on the continuous growth of students ensuring their intellectual, emotional, physical, cultural and social development and therefore it will not be merely limited to assessment of learner’s scholastic attainments. CCE uses assessment as a means of motivating learners to provide feedback and do follow up to further improve upon the learning in the classroom and to present a comprehensive picture of a learner’s profile. It is an activity-based learning methodology that divides the academic year into two terms, SA1 and SA2 that are further divided into FA1, FA2 under SA1; and FA3, FA4 under SA2. Thus the burden of learning so many chapters of all the different subjects near the examination has been considerably reduced.
Formative Assessment is very potent and innovative tool of this new policy. It is a tool used by the teacher to continuously monitor student progress in a non-threatening, supportive environment. It involves regular descriptive feedback, a chance for the student to reflect on the performance, take advice and improve upon it. It involves the students’ being an essential part of assessment from designing criteria to assessing self or peers. I strongly feel If used effectively, it can improve student performance tremendously while raising the self esteem of the child and reducing the work load of the teacher. The students are the beneficiaries; teachers too. It will improve the quality of education in our country.
Students have a lot of potential. Different students can be skilled in different areas. Some of them may be good at rote learning or mastering the textbook while others may be good in project work. The results of a single examination may not reflect the true potential and aptitude of the students.
Besides this, assessing a student on the basis of a half yearly or annual exam is not very suitable because it puts an extra burden on the students. It also creates a fear for the examinations due to which some students become tense and are not able to give their best performance. Therefore, this sort of examination does not give the true picture of the student's achievements.
In case the students' aptitude is evaluated on the basis of daily performance it is less stressful for the students. They are able to focus on the daily assignments and projects and express their talents. This augments learning and improves the teaching and learning experience.
A continuous and comprehensive evaluation of the students or CCE helps to assess the all round achievement of the students.