The ICSE council may have clarified that the tests it has proposed for students of Classes V and VIII will not be board exams and they will not add to the stress young learners are already subjected to. But, heads of several schools in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad are questioning the council's argument that the tests will be indeed different from board exams.

In a note posted on the website of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the council's chief executive and secretary Gerry Arathoon said the tests were envisaged to be "a non-threatening diagnostic assessment unrelated to classroom academic scores; hence, no prior preparation on the part of the students is required".

The note, addressed to heads of all affiliated schools, further said that the assessment would be designed to assess a student's understanding of concepts based on the newly introduced curriculum. "It will put in place strong learning foundations so that both the ICSE and ISC examinations become less demanding and more stress-free for students," it added.

Heads of more than 68 ICSE schools in Jharkhand - 24 in Ranchi, 32 in Jamshedpur and 12 in Dhanbad - are however confused and are waiting for a regional conference, to be chaired by Arathoon, scheduled in Patna on August 4-5.

"We still fear that students will feel an extra burden. We will attend the regional conference to seek answers. As of now, all we know is that these tests will not determine promotion," said Father K. Joseph, principal of De Nobili-CMRI, Dhanbad.

The council in its note has said that it has "received certain queries regarding the curriculum and its assessment from some of the affiliated schools". The questions have been "summarised" and the board has provided an answer to each of them.

One such question was whether the assessment was a "board examination". The council's response was a strict "no". On whether the assessment would lead to higher levels of stress and anxiety among students, the council's response said, "The outcome of the assessment does not determine pass/fail/promotion. It will in fact identify strengths, skills and areas of improvement".

Parents and teachers are, however, of the opinion that any new exam is bound to add to student stress. "Anyone who says an exam can be stress-free is far removed from classroom reality," a teacher said.

"I don't think any complex examination is good at primary- and middle-school level. Our priority will be to understand the objective and assess the outcome of such tests," said the principal of a Ranchi school who did not want to be named.

Rajani Shekhar, the convener of ICSE cradles in Jamshedpur and principal of DBMS English School, said their information so far was collated from websites and newspapers.

"Schools are yet to receive guidelines. Whether the exam will be hardcore curriculum-based or beyond that and how it will be taken forward are something that we need to clarify," she said.