A new internet-based mechanism that aims to trace the progress of students in Central Board of Secondary Education schools has sparked a debate, pitting teachers against parents. While teachers are wary of the tool, parents have greeted it with enthusiasm.
Called Saransh, the mechanism has been introduced by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. For now, it is accessible only to school administrations. But from early 2015, parents can use it to track their child’s performance in every monthly evaluation test from class IX to class XII.
According to the website of the Central Board of Secondary Education – on which Saransh is hosted – the tool has been created for the “self-review” of schools. It will allow the institutions to “diagnose the scope of improvement in students/teachers/subjects... and take necessary decisions”.
Also, the site says, the mechanism – with its graphs and charts – will enable an appraisal of a school’s performance at an aggregate level. Schools can identify the subjects in which its pupils are collectively fumbling. Or they can study district and state-wide performances and national rankings.
Pursuit of rankings
Several teachers are apprehensive that Saransh may spike negative competitiveness among schools. It may push them to resort to malpractices to achieve higher rankings so that they can attract greater admissions, said Mitra Ghosh, a senior teacher at the Raisina Bengali Senior Secondary School in Delhi.
“Private schools are especially notorious about image-building,” Ghosh said. “As it is, they refuse admission to average students to ensure that their result remain among the best.” Ghosh also warned that parents may push average students harder upon seeing the progress of the whole school.
Right tuitions
Most parents are however happy. The online mechanism – with its facility for analyses and comparisons – will allow them to supervise the progress of their child better, they felt.
“Most students take tuitions,” said Chitra Sengupta, whose son studies in Delhi’s Laxman Public School. “The online analysis will help us identify the subjects in which the child is consistently weak. We can then get the right tuition for the child.”
Called Saransh, the mechanism has been introduced by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. For now, it is accessible only to school administrations. But from early 2015, parents can use it to track their child’s performance in every monthly evaluation test from class IX to class XII.
According to the website of the Central Board of Secondary Education – on which Saransh is hosted – the tool has been created for the “self-review” of schools. It will allow the institutions to “diagnose the scope of improvement in students/teachers/subjects... and take necessary decisions”.
Also, the site says, the mechanism – with its graphs and charts – will enable an appraisal of a school’s performance at an aggregate level. Schools can identify the subjects in which its pupils are collectively fumbling. Or they can study district and state-wide performances and national rankings.
Pursuit of rankings
Several teachers are apprehensive that Saransh may spike negative competitiveness among schools. It may push them to resort to malpractices to achieve higher rankings so that they can attract greater admissions, said Mitra Ghosh, a senior teacher at the Raisina Bengali Senior Secondary School in Delhi.
“Private schools are especially notorious about image-building,” Ghosh said. “As it is, they refuse admission to average students to ensure that their result remain among the best.” Ghosh also warned that parents may push average students harder upon seeing the progress of the whole school.
Right tuitions
Most parents are however happy. The online mechanism – with its facility for analyses and comparisons – will allow them to supervise the progress of their child better, they felt.
“Most students take tuitions,” said Chitra Sengupta, whose son studies in Delhi’s Laxman Public School. “The online analysis will help us identify the subjects in which the child is consistently weak. We can then get the right tuition for the child.”
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