KOCHI: The pandemic had confined children in their homes with classes going the online way. Taking into consideration the pandemic situation, the state government cancelled the examinations for Class I to VIII. However, it has been decided to conduct an assessment for Class IX. To assess the learning excellence of students who will be going to higher classes, Sarva Shiksha Kerala (SSK) developed a programme under which booklets comprising activities based on their syllabi have been distributed to all students under the state board.
“These booklets have activities from all subjects excluding languages like Arabic, Urdu and Sanskrit,” said Amul Roy, state programme officer and in charge of Learning Excellence Record. According to him, the online classes might have taught the students concepts and facts. “However, learning in a classroom and online has a lot of difference. Lack of organic interaction with the teacher has left much to be desired,” he added.
“Hence, it becomes important to assess the learning excellence of students to understand the learning gap,” said Amul. According to him, each activity in the booklet has been designed to analyse this. “The booklets have been distributed to every school student in the state right from Class I to IX. However, only Class IX students have to submit their work by May 25,” he added.
“In the case of students studying in Classes I to VIII, the activities have been designed to supplement their learning. However, for Class IX, the activities are textbook oriented. Though the students have to do all the activities in the booklet, they can select the five best ones for submission,” said the state programme officer. Every activity has a card attached to it in the booklet, he added. According to him, the teachers then evaluate the work based on the five cards given to them.
“This will help the teachers analyse whether the students have imbibed the facts and concepts,” he said. According to C Radhakrishnan, state programme manager (Innovations), SSK, the teachers then will be able to bridge the learning gaps in the new class by going over the lessons of the previous class. “It is being planned to do the bridging classes in June in the new academic year,” he said. According to him, while completing the activities and experiments in the booklet, the students can take the help of their parents.