The discourse around making the board examinations for Class X optional has moved largely around the issues of stress on the students on the one hand and the importance of examinations in ensuring a minimum of learning outcomes on the other. The emphasis is on examining the student but it has to shift from this to evaluating the institution in which the teaching and learning takes place to see if there is an enabling environment for the student to learn. For example if the teaching-learning environment of school A is way below that of school B, the results of the board examination can only be skewed and meaningless and exclude the unsuccessful student from further learning opportunities. In such a situation, it achieves no purpose and can be actually harmful.
However, when the state proposes to change its policy concerning the boards, it will have to meet, at least two basic challenges. In the absence of national or state board examinations what will be the state policies which will hold schools more accountable so that the process of teaching and learning does not decline even further; and how will the state deal with the diverse student population and the learning opportunities available to them to ensure a measure of equity between them. There are some thoughts. Achievements have to be measured but not merely of students but also of teachers and management. That is, the school itself has to be constantly evaluated and improved because if the learning environment improves, the students will also do better. This involves an analysis of how goals, perceptions, motivations and strategies are structured by institutional arrangements because instructional leadership must come from the schools themselves who must set their goals and targets of learning achievements. It means that issues have to be identified and prioritized; competing policies considered, and key participants have to be taken on board as educational reforms are usually politically sensitive. They succeed only when there is readiness to accept, organizational capacity to meet the challenges and the power to overcome resistance.
The first question to be asked is what is the purpose of the board examinations? Presumably it is to ensure a minimum learning outcome among students by getting it evaluated by an impartial and objective examining body. But for it to be a truthful and meaningful assessment the playing field has to be reasonably level. Otherwise it will breed feelings of inferiority and alienation. Huge disparity among schools is one of the factors for high failure and dropout rates. It condemns children to inequities because of exigencies of birth and economics. These feelings only get exacerbated by board examinations which only give marks for the `right’ answers according to a predetermined marking scheme. It encourages rote learning as every school concentrates on achieving a particular pass percentage. The concentration is on giving the students the right examination techniques and thus the whole teaching learning process gets vitiated to focus only on examinations. Rote learning rather than actual learning becomes the goal. Since schools stake their reputation and define the worth of students by marks and pass percentages their goal shifts from ensuring thinking, learning and comprehension to ensuring that the children pass the exam.. In any case the class X board exam is used primarily for streaming the children into commerce, science and humanities as usually no cognizance is taken of it when they enter institutions of higher education.
Therefore, the abolition of board exams is not enough. It is only a first step as must be accompanied by attention quality. What is the goal of schooling? Is it certification or learning or both and which has primacy? If it is learning, then learning outcomes must be improved. They depend on a variety of factors like the physical infrastructure available in a school, its academic and pedagogical practices, access to teaching learning tools, quality of teachers and their motivational levels, cultural and social milieu, home background of the student and parental support. There are many more.
There is a wide gap in the quality of schools in different parts of the country and often even within the same city. For example there is not only the rural-urban divide but also disparities in even the basic minimum school facilities in different parts of a city. There are issues of gender and of inclusiveness for certain sections of society. There are matters related to affordability. Hence, before the Boards can seek to measure the learning outcomes of students, there must also be a process of measuring the learning infrastructure and facilities of schools and strengthening them.
While education has to be child centred the teacher is the pivot in its delivery. Hence, the qualifications, motivations and training of teachers has to be a matter of immediate concern. Further, the self-worth and self-esteem of teachers has to be improved by societal recognition of the vital role they play in the delivery of education and the lives of their students. This cannot be done by symbolic gestures alone. Teachers have to given a say in setting goals and missions for the school, in curriculum formation and pedagogical practices and encouraged to innovate while spelling out for them the over arching desired leaning outcomes. Also their relationship with parents and wider community are powerful determinants in student learning and they can create a sense of ownership in the community for the school which is absolutely essential for success.
The community must feel that they it has a stake in maintaining a good school as the education of children depends on it. Hence, a decentralized school-based management with appropriate community involvement is conducive to change and innovation so that teaching-learning processes improve. This can be done by incorporating local resources in the different spheres: physical infrastructure, curriculum formation, and knowledge delivery system, both formal and informal. After all, the best learning takes place from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the near to the far. India is equipped to put this in practice as it is rich in crafts, dance, music, theatre, puppetry, and narrative traditions. All these can be both studied and used to study sociology, history, economics, politics, literature, science, mathematics, and other subjects.
Many other transformational changes can be discussed. But if the abolition of Board Exams can simultaneously reduce stress on the students and become a springboard for far-reaching improvements and innovations in the teaching-learning processes leading to improvement in schooling, a much awaited new beginning would have been made. Otherwise, it will be just another tinkering with the system.
KAVITA A. SHARMA