It has asked states to review the assessment systems, especially the board exam format, both in the light of the pandemic as well as the National Education Policy to unburden the child.
“The time has come when we objectively analyse our exam-centric assessment system, particularly, board exams. CBSE has already initiated the process; states/UTs may also take the lead and initiate exam reforms by their state boards,” the advisory said.
Out-of-school children was a major concern even after the first wave and was taken up in a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on January 12 where the ministry shared data across several states showing that thousands of children of immigrants were yet to get admission.
This time around, the ministry aims to involve ministries of panchayati raj and urban development to draw in local bodies into the effort of identifying out-of-school children through village nodal committees and door-to-door surveys to prevent dropout according to the reports published in economictimes.indiatimes.com.
All states have been asked to establish a control and command centre for teachers and schools to keep track of dropouts, mainstreaming of child labour, out-of-school children, textbook delivery, overall student enrolment and home learning, besides support required by teachers and schools.
The ministry has suggested a 3-phase strategy to address learning loss. The first is immediate action spread till July at maintaining education through initiatives such as mid-day meal scheme, home learning, identifying and bringing dropouts and those out of school back to school. Development of the student registry and creating control and command centre for teachers and schools and a helpline for parents and students besides teacher capacity building and engagement with parents and community will also be part of the initial action.
The second will be phased restoration of the academic year. Focus will be to help children recover through rollout of bridge course, assessment reforms, pedagogical reforms etc. The third will be the ‘grow phase’ from January 2022. This will be more intensive as it will involve close tracking of a child’s learning levels and outcomes at all stages.
