PANAJI
After the Goa Board announced near-100 percent results for the SSC examination, teachers and educationists also expressed mixed feelings and cautioned on judging students based solely on this recent assessment.
“This system of evaluation was developed due to compulsion to minimize the risk of covid. Hence, the scores are much above the average scores under normal circumstances,” states Purva Hegde Desai, professor, Goa Business School at Goa University.
“Taking cognisance of this fact, we should exercise caution while making any decisions based on these scores. Tenth standard performance is considered as a yardstick for students’ entry to different streams like science, commerce etc. Hence parents and students should exercise double caution while deciding the course of higher education based on these marks,” cautions the professor.
Vinod V Powar, retired principal from Margao opines, “This situation teaches us a lesson that learning should not be restricted to the school syllabus and the teachers only. To be successful in life it is more important to be successful in examinations. A student has to learn from his internal desire and not from the external school syllabus. Self-satisfied students will always be successful in life.”
As a parent and an educator, Swapnila Kudchadkar, secondary educator, Sunshine Worldwide School, expresses joy over the SSC results. However, she says, “The problem is not about holding the examination or cancelling it. The problem is the education system that holds this ‘board examination’ which is merely an achievement test, as the only criteria for deciding what our children should choose to study ahead.”
Calling this situation as an eye-opener to all parents, educators, children and all stakeholders of the education system, Swapnila mentions, “There is much more school should impart. The students have to be prepared to face the challenges of the 21st century world.”
Another teacher on condition of anonymity, says, “My very first reaction when I heard about the result was kind of ‘What? How? Rubbish.’ I could see majority of the schools getting 100 per cent results and the school I teach was not one amongst them. I was disappointed.”
Although the teacher didn’t teach the last year’s batch and was on leave for the last academic year, she had seen her colleagues working so hard with each student (online as well as when they were called to school). “I doubt if we had to ever put so much effort as we did last year. The students who failed were weak in their studies. But it wasn’t the first time we had such weak students. Then what went wrong?” she asks.
“I do not doubt the effort put in by the teachers. Could it be the disturbed minds of the students? The stress? Were they having a hard time in the pandemic? I really had no answers and had a sleepless night. The teachers were honest in giving the internal marks the students deserved. But as my mind and heart started to accept the results, I felt happy as I know we have a batch of students who have ‘learnt’ what was taught have cleared. None of them passed with any marks given to them which they have not earned. The students have got the fruit of the work they put in,” she said and negates the demand of zero academic year.
Letting the children face the conditions as they are, and making them learn to cope up with stress and study the way the study- material is being delivered to them is the best option, feels the teacher, mentioning that there are so many great personalities who have done wonders without having a formal school background. “It is we adults that need to learn to be honest in doing the assessment,” she says.
