Abu Dhabi, June 27: The elimination of Grade 10 Indian board exams could come as a pleasant respite for parents and students, but principals of schools in the UAE have expressed the need for an alternative benchmark to assess the students in the first place.
India’s Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday proposed a plan to scrap the Grade X examination system, stating that it is a traumatic phase for both the parents and children.
Ashok Kumar, principal and CEO of the Indian High School Dubai, agrees that the examinations put a lot of pressure on the students but an appropriate systems needs to be developed to evaluate the capability of the students.
“Grade 10 is a benchmark, depending on which students decided their future stream. The school and the board must develop a system that is an alternative to exams,” he said.
Schools should be given the autonomy to conduct the examinations. “There has to be a standardisation template and schools should be given the autonomy to conduct the examinations, but the board will also have to develop a certain method of auditing to ensure that the quality is maintained,” he added.
Neelam Upadhyay, principal of the Indian School Al Ain said that examinations are a filtration method that the schools adopt to ensure that the students pick the right stream for education.
“Examination is a tool and though its elimination will reduce the pressure, they are to a large extent necessary to determine the capability of the students,” she said.
However, according to Dr. Farooq Wasil, head of Asian Schools at GEMS, said examinations must be removed completely from the education system. “Examinations have brought unnecessary stress and competition among the students which does not give any distinctive edge to them. We need to create an environment for deeper learning and right now there is a big disconnect between preparing for examinations and preparing for life,” he said.
Sharath K.V, a parent, said that the proposal was appreciated. “It is only Grade XII which matters to a student. The 10th grade is not very important. It is given importance as it is attached to the central board,” he said.
His daughter K. Kaviya felt the same. “It is to put less pressure on the students. I would prefer an internal examination. Also, I would prefer more practical examinations rather than theory,” she said.
Insiya Pargahwala, another parent, said Grade X should be scrapped. “It is a good idea. Through the exams, the performance of only one year is judged, which shouldn’t be done. They should look at the track record of the child throughout the schooling years,” the parent said.
Sameena K., a lecturer and a parent, was also in favour of the scrapping of Grade X examinations.
“The suggestion by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal to scrap 10th class exams is indeed welcomed by many parents who are traumatised by the whole process of board exams. We have seen in the recent past the amount of stress that students go through in the process of attempting these exams and race for higher and higher percentages.”
“Reasons for this can partly be also because the exams are conducted and evaluated by an external agency and it also requires the students to memorise the whole syllabus learnt over a period of one year. Scrapping this system and replacing it with internal evaluations done over a whole year is a more challenging and practical method of measuring students’ ability to comprehend and apply the knowledge gained in classroom,” she said.
Musroor Ahmed, another parent, said, “I like the idea of doing away with the board exams at the 10th class level. It is a constant source of stress and trauma for parents and teachers alike and too much importance is paid to 10th class results when, in fact, important career choices are made on the basis of 12th class. As is suggested it is more appropriate to have a common board exam at 12th class to ensure uniformity in selection process for professional and other graduates institutions and universities.”
–Agencies