HYDERABAD: The Telangana School Education department’s decision to introduce an external evaluation system for Summative Assessment-I (SA-I) and Summative Assessment-II (SA-II) in government schools has drawn criticism from teachers’ representatives, who have questioned its necessity and feasibility amid staff shortages and inadequate infrastructure.
According to proceedings issued recently by Dr E Naveen Nicolas, Director of School Education and State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, the examinations will continue to be conducted at the school level.
However, answer scripts will be collected on the same day and handed over to the Mandal Resource Centre (MRC). Teachers from other schools within the mandal will evaluate the scripts to ensure greater objectivity, transparency and uniformity.
The evaluation has to be completed within three to five days. Under the guidelines, the Mandal Educational Officer (MEO) has to establish an evaluation centre and appoint an evaluation in-charge and adequate number of evaluators. Teachers cannot evaluate answer scripts of students from their own schools.
The department has prescribed remuneration of `2 per answer script at the primary level (Classes I-V) and `3 at the high-school level (Classes VI-IX). It has also prescribed a lump sum of `10,000 per evaluation camp in each mandal. The District Education Officers (DEOs) will monitor the process and ensure that the evaluation is fair, transparent, impartial and accountable.
Mutyala Ravindar, state additional general secretary, Telangana Progressive Teachers Federation (TPTF), and a mathematics teacher, said the new system appeared to have been introduced without adequate consultation with teachers’ associations and other stakeholders.
He questioned the need for external evaluation when the existing Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) framework already provides for formative and summative assessments.
He also pointed to the additional burden on teachers. Since evaluators have to be drawn from other schools within the mandal, schools could lose teaching staff for three to five days during the evaluation process.
“When two or three teachers are deputed from a school, classroom instruction will inevitably be affected,” he said.
Ahmed Khan, a government school teacher, questioned whether evaluation centres would have adequate supervisory staff and infrastructure. The guidelines require centres to have sufficient seating, lighting, ventilation, drinking water, toilets, secure storage, stationery, and computer and data-entry facilities.
Pvt schools told to expedite registration for Swachh scheme
Hyderabad: The School Education department on Sunday urged private management schools to expedite registration and complete the self-assessment process under the Swachh Evam Harit Vidyalaya Rating (SHVR) 2026–27 initiative within the stipulated timelines. The programme aims to promote sanitation, environmental sustainability, safety and healthy learning environments in schools. It advised schools not to wait until the last date to complete registration and self-assessment. The SHVR portal and mobile application became operational on August 1.