West Bengal schools to hold evaluation session to assess students academic progress in last 2 years

KOLKATA: With schools having reopened campuses after an extended summer vacation, the West Bengal Board of Primary Education has issued a set of guidelines, asking state-run and–aided institutes to carry out an evaluation session to assess the academic progress of students in the past two years of online learning, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The evaluation will be carried out in phases, an official of the board said.

Ananda Handa, a functionary of West Bengal Primary Teachers Association, pointed out that school campuses were out of bounds for students due to the pandemic, with many children having missed out on lessons due to network issues or the economic condition at homes, especially in the rural areas. Handa said students are turning up in large numbers after the classes reopened on June 27, and the evaluation exercise will help teachers get a better understanding of the headway made by the students.

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R C Bagchi, the board secretary, said in a notice, “…to evaluate the students' performances there will be summative evaluation...which shall be preceded by formative evaluation." He also said that prescribed syllabus will have to be followed for each subject. In accordance with the notice, the first offline summative evaluation will have to be conducted by schools between July 2 and 12, the second in September and the third in December.

Each summative assessment will be preceded by a formative session. Summative assessments are used to evaluate a student’s learning, skill and academic progress at the end of a certain period, while formative session takes into account the methods used by teachers to impart lessons. The phase-wise assessments will be carried out in addition to the mid-term and final exams. According to the board official, the methodology for summative and formative evaluation of students, would be decided by respective schools.