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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | And children pay the price -Krishna Kumar

And children pay the price -Krishna Kumar

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published Published on Feb 7, 2017   modified Modified on Feb 7, 2017
-The Indian Express

CBSE’s decision to make Class X board exam compulsory upturns a modest reform of school education

Once upon a time, when India was a colony, the matriculation exam marked the end of “high” school education. It served as the gateway for higher education at a college. The Latin root of the verb ‘to matriculate’ means getting enlisted in a college. Not everybody could aspire for higher education, but even among those who did, few could pass the public exam taken at the end of Class X. Failure rates were very high. “Matric pass” meant eligibility for certain careers; even “matric fail” signified status, conveying that a person had spent 10 years at school and taken a very difficult exam.

Reform in secondary education became the focus of policymakers soon after Independence. They felt that 10 years of schooling was not sufficient for higher education. They agreed with their predecessors who had found 10-year schooling to be short for a serious engagement with college education. Initially, an addition of one year was recommended, leading to the model —implemented in some states — of 11 years of school education. Subsequently, one more year was added. In the mid-1960s, the Kothari Commission had hoped that the final two years in a 12-year model will provide a viable option of vocational courses. This hope turned out to be an illusion. The only change that occurred was that instead of one, students had to face two public exams before proceeding to college. Both exams caused great stress.

In the colonial era, board exams had begun to dominate and shape the teachers’ sense of purpose and pedagogic practice. The board exam had become a cultural institution, a test of endurance — of the capacity to cope with intense stress. Popular faith in the integrity of the examination system remained largely intact despite common experience and evidence that the system was neither just nor foolproof. Despite the criticism it faced in policy documents, the system retained its legitimacy. The main point of criticism was that board exams mainly test the ability to memorise. Efforts to reform the system attained only marginal success. The high school exam, taken at the end of Class X, continued despite the introduction of the Class XII board exam. Its main utility was that the high school “pass” certificate carried the student’s date of birth. Structurally, the Class X exam helped to keep the transition rate low by eliminating a huge proportion of students — in many states, the majority — by “failing” them.

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The Indian Express, 6 February, 2017, http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/cbse-class-x-board-exam-compulsory-indian-education-system-4509563/


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