Calcutta, May 21: Learn more, sweat less! That’s the rule several city schools are following.

Institutions such as Mahadevi Birla Girls’ School, The Heritage School, St. James’ School and Future Campus School are doing away with terminal examinations completely till Class V and implementing a system of continuous assessment. Other schools like Nopany Vidyalaya and Pailan World School have opted for a mixed approach.

Students are assessed continuously in each subject, instead of the traditional system where children are pressured to give their best at a year-end examination.

“We identify a child’s strong points and his weaknesses and subsequently help him improve in the weak areas,” said Angela Ghose, headmistress, St. James’ School. “The idea is to help him learn and not create a sense of failure in him.”

Shubha Pathak, the teacher-in-charge of Future Campus School, agreed. “This way, we help the child develop all his competencies instead of simply completing the syllabus. Our basic aim is to give him skills so that he learns to learn on his own.”

The process involves unitwise break-up of subjects and an assessment at the end of each unit, which may be in the form of a class test or simply the classwork and homework. The cumulative average in each subject results in a grade at the end of each term.

The competencies vary with the subject and may include listening skills, reading skills, writing skills. Teachers maintain a daily register of each child to assess his competencies accurately.

“This method ensures that a child not only learns what he is taught but also develops other skills, which are very important to make learning life applicable,” according to Malini Bhagat, the headmistress at Mahadevi Birla Girls’ School.

Bhagat is planning to do away with even subjectwise grades this year and have only an overall term grade. “Why even grade a child subjectwise?” she asked. “Even that creates a sense of competition and unhealthy comparison.”

Educationists believe a child should not know that he is being evaluated at all in lower classes as that develops a sense of fear. In the system of continuous assessment, not only is the assessment more accurate than that of a terminal examination, a child is not subjected to the fear and pressure of a terminal examination and the phobia that results.

“Some subjects are not evaluated at all in lower classes,” said Ghose. “We treat history and general knowledge as fun subjects in Class III and give a certificate or a reward as an incentive to a child who performs well. Children take greater interest in subjects that are not graded,” she said.

However, most schools still follow the examination system and feel it equips children with skills required to appear for board examinations.

“Children learn to answer questions within a given time. It also gives them the much-needed writing practice,” said Gillian Rosemary Hart, the principal of Welland Gouldsmith School.