The issue of baseline tests has once again reared its ugly head, leaving parents disappointed and up in arms against the implementation of the tests
The issue of baseline tests has once again reared its ugly head, leaving parents disappointed and up in arms against the implementation of the tests - which were stayed by the Bombay High Court in 2006 but are allegedly being conducted by various private-aided schools in the city at present. The schools claim that they have been asked by the state to implement the programme only for students studying in standard II.
According to the schools, during a training programme conducted by the state recently, teachers who were provided training on a newly-devised programme found it to be a replica of the earlier proposal of the baseline tests. Schools claim that a booklet for primary school teachers was issued during the training programme clearly stating the implementation of baseline tests.
“The booklet distributed to the teaching fraternity also mentions the methods of evaluation for the baseline tests. We are astonished by the decision of the State Education Department to restart their old proposal on baseline tests, although the Bombay HC had restrained its implementation,” says a principal of a private-aided school on conditions of anonymity.
The introduction of the baseline tests from the current academic year has not gone down well with school principals and teachers and has also disappointed parents. “It is shocking to known that despite an uproar over the implementation of the baseline tests in 2006, it has been recommenced. As per the new content, students of standard II are still being taught the syllabus of standard I,” said Rohit Sharma (name changed), a
disgruntled parent.
Another parent complains, “We had been informed by the school that the syllabus of the current academic year will be taught once the school completes the process of conducting baseline tests based on the syllabus of the previous year. It’s disheartening to know that our wards will be appearing for examinations based upon the syllabus of the previous year as it would create an excess burden on them.”
Some parents said they have even discarded the textbooks of the previous academic year. However, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of Mumbai has identified the government’s move to implement the baseline tests in city schools as an act leading to the contempt of the HC order.
JM Abhyankar, chairman of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) - a state body holding charge of the proposal on baseline tests - has refuted the allegations of the teaching and parent fraternity over the introduction of baseline tests.
Abhyankar said, “We have not introduced the tests in any of the city’s schools. We have however devised a different programme for enhancing the quality of education in government run schools. In this particular programme, schools will help students recollect the previous academic year’s syllabus, thereby helping students strengthen their academic foundation. These tests are strictly for students studying in government-run schools and not for private-aided or unaided schools. The teachers from private-aided schools have misinterpreted the government directives.”
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