Debate: Reforms good but Class X exams needed

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday announced that the Class X Board exams will be optional in all the Central Board of Secondary Education-affiliated schools from the next academic year.

All state ministers gave their approval to the decision that grades will replace Board exams in Class X and an independent body will make policy for higher education in the country. However, many students say they want to write the Board exam while experts believe that Sibal is undertaking cosmetic measures instead of making fundamental changes to the country's educational system.

But are the new educational policies in tune with the nature of competition in India today and the wide social differences that exist between Indian children?

CNN-IBN show Face The Nation debated: Will making Class X exams optional make our children less competitive?

The panel of experts included Tagore International School Principal Madhulika Sen; Central Advisory Board for Education member Vinod Raina; Director, Advocacy and Policy, Save The Children, Shireen Vakil Miller and Pratham CEO Madhav Chavan.

At the start of the show, 56 per cent of those who voted in agreed that making of Class X exams optional would make children less competitive while 44 per cent disagreed.

Freedom or facade?

Starting with the discussion, Vinod Raina said people are overreacting because Class X Board exam being made optional is probably one of the least important issues in the educational reforms.

"Class X has no educational purpose, at best it has a branding purpose," he said.

"Education should be educating children rather than making them competitive. Children should use their learning in problem solving," Raina stated.

Shireen Vakil Miller's opinion, however, differed from what Raina said. She mentioned that the seriousness with which the schools all over India will do their internal assessment will differ from an elite school in the Capital to that of CBSE schools in a small town.

"The new Class X assessment system will further make more categories among children because some students will sit for Board exams while others will be marked on their internal assessment," Miller explained.

She also questioned the present education system saying, "Is our education system equipping our children with the skills and knowledge they need to face and deal the world they meet after leaving the school?”

Taking the discussion further, Madhav Chavan said education should teach the child to compete with self and not others.

"A child has the right to be tested and to know how good or bad he or she is and how much he or she needs to improve," he said.

Agreeing to the fact that the Board system was good as it couldn't differentiate between a student from an elite private school to that of a government school, Madhulika Sen said that assessment plays an important role in the education of a child.

But she also stated that Class X exams are not very relevant as maximum students do their Class XI and XII in the same school and therefore internal assessment is not a bad idea.

"In today's times the level of examination is very standardised because of which a lot of children end up getting very high percentage. So, I feel if the child is being evaluated on a continuous basis throughout the year it will be a better assessment of a child's ability and aptitude and this can be done both in a government and private school," Sen said.

Will the reforms bridge gap between poor and rich?

On a lighter note, Chavan said it has been hardly three months that Kapil Sibal has taken the charge and therefore some more time should be given to him before everyone comes to a conclusion about the reforms proposed by him.

"Lot more needs to be done to improve the quality of education in the country," he said.

Going back to Raina's statement that class X exams are not relevant, Chavan said, "The Class X Boards are very relevant especially for the poorer children who need to take that certificate and go in the job market.”

"Presently, the Government promises them (poor students) education only till Class VIII and we don't provide them any standardised certificate which says that the student has cleared Class VIII with certain skill levels. If a child, who has passed his or her Class VIII from a small rural school, comes to a metro city then he or she has no chance to stand the competition there and therefore every child has the right to be tested, earn a certificate and go out looking for a job with dignity," he explained.

To this, Raina said that everyone needs to be clear that Class X exams have been made optional. He added that the students opting out after Class X have an option to sit for the Board exams and earn a certificate.

Meanwhile, Miller also agreed with Chavan and said it is true that maximum students in the country need a Class X Board certificate to look out for a job as the maximum percentage of India's population is poor.

Concluding the debate, she said reforms are urgently needed but there should be one system to evaluate all students.

"If you want to scrap the Boards then scrap it and make it continuous assessment for all students but it should be one system for all," Miller emphasised.

Final results of the SMS poll: Will making Class X exams optional make our children less competitive?

Yes: 56 per cent

No: 44 per cent

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