No more red remarks, students have an advantage

The government’s new gradation policy aims at focusing on more than academics. It will introduce new methodologies in teaching and evaluating students.

Teacher training is important for it to be a success
A red remark on the report card is what hurts a child the most. Positive remarks help a child build a positive attitude and self-confidence. The state government’s new grading policy for students from Std I to VIII will benefit children. But, for the policy to be a success teachers have to be trained. While framing a question paper for an open-book examination, a teacher should know how to set it so that students don’t end up copying answers from the textbook.

Instead, the student should be able to interpret the answer and
rewrite it in his/her own words.

The student should develop the ability to read between the lines. Hence, it is important to have a teacher-believe system wherein a teacher knows how she can help a child develop a positive attitude and face the competitive world with more confidence.
—Nitya Ramaswami, head, Child Development and 
    Academics, Zee Learn

Make sure that the policy is not abused
The stress of performing well and scoring high marks in examinations is taking its toll on students. Therefore, allowing students to focus on other skills, apart from just academics, is a good move by the state government. Projects and examinations will help students gain more knowledge as they will
refer to various books, apart from the prescribed textbooks.
However, the school and parents should ensure that students don’t abuse the scheme and continue to study even when there are no exams.
— Rosy Kohli, mother of a Std V student

Happy to know that arts too will be focused on
I love drawing and have even won district-level competitions. I’m glad that more focus will be given to arts and crafts. It’s a good move by the government as not everyone is good in academics. It will help students sharpen their skills. It will also help reduce pressure on students and they will be able to understand better, rather than just mug up. Open-book exams, self-study, informal tests and group discussions are good as they will help one understand the course. It will also help one build more self-confidence.
— Mayuri Pohankar, Std VI, St Thomas School

It will help build up team spirit, confidence
A student gets demoralised and becomes the laughing stock in class if his/her report card is filled with red remarks. Therefore, putting only positive remarks on a report card is a good move. It will help build up his/her confidence. Also, having group discussions and project work are good as will help sharpen our team-working skills, which is very important in today’s competitive world. It will also explore the students’ ‘multiple intelligence’ as there will be a focus on application-based knowledge training.
— Shrushti Talati, Std VII, Dr S Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya

Open-book exams aren’t beneficial
I don’t like the concept of open-book examinations. If a student can refer to his textbook while writing an exam, it won’t benefit him/her in the long run. The student will not study anything as he/she will refer to the textbook while answering the exam. Also, I prefer if projects are done in school rather than at home, as most of the time it’s parents who end-up helping their children. Group discussions and oral exams will be beneficial for students as they will teach them to work as a team.
— Jaswinder Kaur, mother of a Std VI student