Transition In Board Exams | Panel Discussion | Episode 3

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As we are gradually nearing the bus ard exams this year, there is a lot of confusions and apprehensions. The changing scenario of the education sector and the pandemic that is still at large, has made us worried about the offline board exams that will be held very soon. 

How do pre-boards help in the board exams that follow? How were the pre-boards conducted in various schools and what precautions were particularly followed to keep the students safe? Also, how are the board exams important? 

Get these and similar of your questions answered by our panel of experts in the 3rd episode of 'Transition in Board Exams', brought to you by Ezyschooling and Mock Board.

Guess where these words are from: Examinations have “grown to extravagant dimensions, and their influence has been allowed to dominate the whole system of education in India, with the result that instruction is confined within the rigid framework of prescribed courses, that all forms of training which do not admit of being tested by written examinations are liable to be neglected." Answer: From a report on education policy prepared by the government of George Nathaniel Curzon, Viceroy of India, in 1904. What about this one? “The system of examinations prevailing in our country has proved a curse to education". Answer: The Congress’s Zakir Husain Committee report on Basic National Education, 1938. I found these damning indictments of board examinations in a powerful essay by Azim Premji University professor B.S. Rishikesh on why school board examinations must be scrapped permanently.

As he argues, the pandemic has exposed the pointlessness of these expensive ritual ordeals. We found that we could easily cancel Grade 10 board exams without any significant consequences. Grade 12 board exams are somewhat different—they perform some functions for which there are no immediate alternatives—but there is a case to eventually get rid of them too. Today, these examinations mostly serve the interests of education bureaucracies, the coaching industry, test-preparation publishers and unscrupulous entrepreneurs who try to make a quick buck by exploiting the hopes and insecurities of parents. To the extent that they have any useful role in education itself, there are cheaper and less harmful alternatives that can replace exams.

The case against Grade 10 examinations is clear. There was perhaps a time, 40 years ago, when formal schooling up to secondary school would have been adequate. Thus, the secondary school leaving certificate and equivalent qualifications acted as credentials signalling the completion of essential basic education. This is no longer the case. A young person anywhere in the world cannot expect lifelong employability without, at the very least, having 12 years of schooling. Indeed, science and mathematics are no longer optional for generations that have to deal with the complexities of life, work and citizenship in the Information Age.