Samagra Shiksha Kerala, General Education Department is expected to complete the curation of learning excellence records in the coming few days. These records are being curated for students of Class 1 to 9 to evaluate their year-end progress for the academic year 2020-21. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students have attended online classes for the entire year without appearing for annual exams. Thus, the education department felt the need to evaluate students and analyse the outcome of First Bell online classes implemented in the state.
The evaluation records shall also aim to analyse other activities related to digital classes in Kerala. These reports shall grade students based on various parameters such as participation in school activities, projects and write-ups prepared by them, unit reviews, and assignments that they complete. A systematic year-end evaluation shall also follow suit.
Based on the dual evaluation process, a promotion list shall be prepared based on the records and shall be released by May 20, 2021. The concerned department shall be using the learning excellence record as well to determine the year-end results. These records shall be provided to schools within the state by the Samagra Shiksha Kerala through the block resource centres. At the same time, students will also be able to access the records. However, steps to do so are yet to be disclosed.
According to A.P. Kuttykrishnan, the Director of Samagra Shiksha Kerala, the learning excellence records are being curated in association with the State Council of Education, Research and Training (SCERT) by referencing a book. However, for elementary school children having limited subjects, these records are not that detailed or elaborate.
High school students have a variety of diverse subjects including Malayalam, Mathematics, English, and Social Science. Hence, the learning records for such standards are nearly 200 pages long. The records shall also contain spaces for activity-related questions or mentioning important information about the syllabus being taught in the respective schools. However, students shall not be compelled to answer all the questions but only a few.
The director further clarified that the learning records are not only created for evaluation purpose. They shall also be used to help teachers comprehend the effectiveness of activities that were conducted during the academic year. Moreover, using these records, they can point out the learning gaps, search for methods to help students learn better and receive any other support needed in the upcoming academic year.
In other news, the Kerala state education department shall be conducting exams for Class 1 to 9 through the online mode. Students appearing for the exams can submit their answer sheets from their home itself on or before May 10, 2021. The department has already started distributing the question booklets to students. The decision to conduct exams at home was taken amid rising COVID-19 cases in the state.
