Schools unsure about CCE in classes, did not receive RTE guides

Even after one year of its introduction, most of the schools are still confused over the implementation of continuous comprehensive evaluation (CCE), as they did not receive the mandated RTE handbooks that teachers could use as a guide during classroom sessions, or clear instructions and they find it difficult to implement these due to the large size of classrooms. This was revealed in a workshop conducted by the education department. 

Now, the department is planning to rework on the new evaluation system.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan conducted an impromptu workshop of 60 teachers randomly selected from schools all over Maharashtra from September 19 to September 20, to gauge the status of CCE in the state and the difficulties faced by the schools in its implementation. Most of the private schools complained they were confused about the exact implementation of CCE since they did not get guide books prescribed by the State Council of Educational Research and Technology (SCERT). 

"There was a shortage of guide books so every school received one book instead of every teacher receiving one book. This book was supposed to help teachers in following CCE, but many teachers claimed never to have read it," said Suvarna Kharat, chief coordinator, RMSA.

Instead of conducting comprehensive evaluation, it was found that most of the schools were simply conducting multiple tests of their students.  They were still unsure how to utilise the eight tools defined by the state government to assess students based on the subjects. They also said that they were given confusing and often contradictory information from different organisations under the education department.

"Teachers complained that most of the trainings were insufficient and were not able to clear their doubts about the system. We are now planning to take another look at the training programmes and possibly solve all the doubts," Kharat added.

Under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE), the CCE was introduced in August 2010 for classes 1 to 8. 

As part of this system, the schools are supposed to conduct formative and summative assessments of their students instead of the "exam based assessment". The teachers complained that they were bogged down by multiple tests, corrections and writing the observation book.

"In the workshop we came across the fact that several schools are still unclear about how to go about implementing the CCE. We will hold a meeting with the SCERT over this issue and come up with changes soon so that every school can adopt it well," said V Radha, project officer, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.