July 7: Several ICSE school principals met education minister Partha Chatterjee this afternoon to convey their disapproval of the proposed tests for students of classes V and VIII.
They also sought the government's intervention in the matter on their behalf.
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations clarified on Tuesday the tests would not be a board exam and they would not add to the stress the young learners were already subjected to.
"The assessment is 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. It is NOT a board examination," Gerry Arathoon, the chief executive and secretary of the council, said in a note posted on the council's website.
The principals who met Chatterjee today, included heads of Anglo-Indian schools. None of them wanted themselves or their schools to be identified.
They briefed the minister why the proposed test would be stressful for students and how it would encourage private tuitions. Also, it would add to the financial burden of parents, they told Chatterjee.
"We told the minister that if exams were to be introduced there would be fees associated with them as well. Schools would be forced to charge more from parents at a time when the government wants to put a cap on the fee structure," one of the principals said.
The schools also want their "freedom to design the curriculum" restored instead of having to accept the proposed council curriculum from preschool to Class VIII.
The curriculum is compulsory as it provides a uniform base for all affiliated schools, the council has said.
Chatterjee later told Metro that he would write to the council. "Under Section 29 of the right to education, the state government has to be consulted and their concurrence taken before changing a curriculum," he said. "I will want to know from the council the cost of introducing such assessments... if it means charging a fee, it is inconsistent with our (the government) stand."
