Several conerns have been brought up regarding poor Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) results and the government saving face with grace marks, exam patterns, curriculum and more. These concerns have been raised by experts and stakeholders on the committee which was formed to improve education, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
The committee was discussing the overhauling needed in state board schools during round table held on Monday, July 15.
A few highlights are that there is a need of curriculum that is on par with other boards like Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE); implementation of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF); creation of a similar pattern along the lines of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and revising the syllabus for Math and Science.
Between Standard Math or Basic Math at the secondary level, students should be given the chance to chose so that they can improve their scores. Strategies were also spoken about to improve teacher training, curriculum development and student assessment, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
"A balance between state and national curriculum is pivotal, and the state government should take necessary steps to do that,” D Shashikumar, Secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools (KAMS) stated.
He also shared that the curriculum needs improvement and the implementation of NCERT curriculum is necessary for pre-primary and primary students. Also, when it comes to infrastructure in both state board and government institutions, needs improvement, he said.
Teachers at MES Teachers' College came up with a report, co-authoured by HS Ganesha Bhatta, former principal along with assistant professors Poornima Hedge and KH Prabhu.
The 14-page report called Needed Examination Reforms in SSLC: Karnataka recommends bringing up the number of objective questions from 8 to 20, bi-lingual question papers to ensure that students who switched to English in Class VIII are not at a loss, conveying the changes in curriculum soon enough and more.
For teachers teaching state board, the report mentions that deputation of teachers for other works should be minimised and training should not take post-January so that teachers can focus on teaching.
The committee also highlighted the necessity to take internal and external marks together to declare results and reduce the passing percentage to 33% from 35%, much like the CBSE and ICSE boards.
