Do marks reflect the actual levels of learning of a child?
- The Indian education system has always been following the marks or grade-based assessment system to evaluate the learning milestones achieved by the students. A well-developed assessment and evaluation system plays a pivotal role in the educational journey of children. While we look into the complex and integral aspects of the domain of education, understanding the effectiveness and potential challenges of the evaluation system is of utmost importance. When we deeply examine the Indian education system, we can see that report cards are mainly being used by teachers and parents to evaluate the learning capacities and achievements of children.
- What do report cards convey?
Report cards include information about different academic aspects of a child over some time, usually a year. It measures the scores or grades a child has obtained throughout an academic year. Most of the time, report cards include information regarding the marks achieved by the students in different subjects in periodic and term-end examinations. Apart from this, it also includes grades for behavioral, cultural, and sports-related activities that a child is involved in.
- Are report cards enough to assess learning?
There have been arguments about the effectiveness and efficiency of report cards in measuring the overall performance of students. Many of the stakeholders from the domain of education have put forward the opinion that while information about the grades provides an idea about the student’s level, rigidity in the evaluation system has overlooked the diversity of talents in children and their holistic development.
- What is the challenge?
The challenges in using a uniform grading system hold more significance when it comes to a culturally diverse country like India. Another prominent issue adding to this challenge is the undue importance we place on rote memorization. Children just focus on rote learning to score the maximum marks they can, which more or less leads to the failure of the purpose of education. As we are bringing up our children in a much more competitive global era, there is a need to shift the focus towards more progressive and comprehensive methods of assessment and evaluation ensuring maximum participation of students.
“Grades are the holy grail,” said Bibb Hubbard, founder and president of Learning Heroes. “They’re the number one indicator that parents turn to to understand that their child is on grade level, yet a grade does not equal grade-level mastery. But nobody’s told their parents that.”
A few years ago, Mr. Vikram Joshi, a renowned educationist from India said that the purpose of education is to nurture well-rounded individuals. While report cards serve a purpose, they should not overshadow the importance of character development, critical thinking, and practical skills that are essential for success in the real world.
It is a very stressful situation for the students that their teachers and parents are assessing their capabilities just based on the marks they have scored in their term examinations.
Report cards misleading parents on children’s academic progress, a recent survey reveals.
Years before, Dr. Radhakrishnan, the former president of India, opined that while report cards are essential tools for assessment, we must remember that education is not merely about grades. It is the holistic development of children -their character, creativity, and critical thinking -that truly defines their educational journey.
In this era of cutthroat competition, we need to put our focus on creating a much more progressive, continuous, and comprehensive evaluation system for our schools.
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