Mind gap: Good results may not ensure that kids are learning it right in class

Sohini Sanyal is very happy about the fact that she has managed to get her son enrolled in one of the best educational institutes in Calcutta. But does the fact that your child is going to the best school ensure that he will be learning all the core skills? Unlikely, says a report submitted by Educational Initiatives (EI), an Ahmedabad-based research organisation.

The report highlights the fact that in most schools children fail to understand the basic concepts and take an alternative path — rote learning — to get good marks.

“When I was associated with Eklavya Institute of Teacher Education, I found children in most educational institutes taking refuge to rote learning. This made me begin EI with the belief that only quality education can make a fundamental change in society,” says Sudhir Ghodke, founder of EI, which is an effort by a group of IIM Ahmedabad alumni.

Its mission is to work towards qualitative improvement in India’s educational system by building a team of experts with exceptional teaching skills who would help in benchmarking the quality of education imparted in various institutions. After seven years of rigorous effort and hard work, they conducted a research in collaboration with Wipro across 142 leading schools in five metros — Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore between February and April 2006.

The detailed report only confirmed the founder’s hunch that students have failed to grasp the knowledge imparted in schools. Two years have elapsed since the report was made public. The report shook up the teaching fraternity across India. Ever since most private schools in Calcutta have been trying to get their school and students assessed at the beginning of every academic year. If the figures are to be believed, about 122 schools in Calcutta have opted for Assessment of Scholastic Skills through Educational Testing (ASSET).

Teachers too seem to be happy with the test and are making sure that students appear for it. “It costs Rs 200 to take a test in mathematics, English and science. It’s an optional test but I prefer students taking it as it helps them assess their strength and weakness and at the same time helps the teachers know where they need to put in some extra effort,” says Meenakshi Atal, vice-principal, The Heritage School, Calcutta.

But what makes ASSET different from other run-of-the-mill tests? “ASSET is a diagnostic test. It helps in assessing what the child learns in class. This test gives a feedback to the teachers about portions that students have failed to understand,” says Ghodke. The questions that need to be answered are drafted in such a fashion that it compels a child to use his analytical skills. For each question there are various options. So, when a child ticks a wrong answer, it’s easier to find out where the child has failed in understanding a subject.

Students of Lakshimipat Singhania Academy (LSA) have been taking this test ever since it began in 2001. “The reason for opting for this test is that the questions are skill based and one can get a detailed individualistic report. This report helps the student understand where she stands vis-à-vis her class, state and country,” says Anjali Chopra, headmistress of the school. Once the results are out, workshops are held to train teachers take classes in a better way.

Last year, students of St James’ School (SJS) appeared for the test for the first time. “A report published in 2006 saying students weren’t learning much in school prompted us to ask our students to appear for ASSET in the academic year 2007-2008 for the first time,” says Soumen K. Mundul, senior master, SJS. Not happy with the results, SJS boys took the British Council administered CAE, PET, KET tests. Once again, the results weren’t that good and 25 per cent failed to make the cut.

“These tests served as an eye opener. The fact that we had out performed several schools was a cold comfort as there were a few students who failed to make it. ASSET revealed that the present structure and system of knowledge evaluation was definitely far from conducive to meaningful learning,” he says.

One of the pitfalls of a school-leaving evaluation as prevalent in India, unlike in the US, is the strait-jacketing of the teaching-learning process. It is time we adopt the more scientific and qualitatively superior model of “pupil-active-teacher-passive” methodology.