COIMBATORE: THE Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has come out with a draft document on learning outcomes, with assessment standards indicating expected levels of learning that children in elementary classes (classes I - VIII) should achieve in various subjects.
Developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), these outcomes are the minimum levels of learning that will help teachers monitor students against expected benchmarks. The MHRD has proposed the inclusion of these standards in the Central rules of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.
Once done, it will be applicable to all schools - government, aided and private.
“The outcomes can be used as checkpoints to assess learning at different points of time. They will help teachers to understand the learning levels of children in their classes individually as well as collectively. They should be the point of reference for conducting achievement surveys. So it is necessary that the defined learning outcomes are also shared with parents.”
The NCERT has developed draft learning outcomes for each class in languages (Hindi, English and Urdu), Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science and Social Science up to the elementary stage, i.e. class VIII.
Commenting on this, P B Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System, said the document talks only about the outcomes. It does not say anything about the facilities to be provided.
“What are the facilities being provided to children in Navodaya and Kendriya Vidyalayas and Sainik schools? Is the per child expenditure in these schools equivalent to the per child expenditure of State and local body schools,” he asked.