Teachers’ training to reduce summer holidays

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, March 30, 2007
There is some bad news for students and teachers belonging to secondary schools under the state board. They will have to forego a week from their summer holidays to facilitate an orientation programme for teachers.
The orientation programme for teachers is being organised to help them understand the new grade system to be introduced in schools under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE). The summer vacation was due to start from May 18. But a circular from the board has urged all schools to go on vacation on or after May 25. Generally, the schools are closed for 65 days in a year.
“We have done this to ensure that all the schools go on summer vacation at the same time and we can train all the teachers during this period. We are introducing the grade system this year and this orientation programme will be essential to ensure the smooth functioning of the new system,” said Swapan Sarkar, Secretary of WBBSE.
The board has introduced 7-point grading system from Class-VI to IX, starting from the 2007-08 academic session. Henceforth, students would be given grades, besides the actual marks obtained in each subject.
Apart from educating the teachers about the rules related to the grading system, the teachers would also get special training on conducting unit tests. “The syllabus has been updated and the teachers need to know what they will teach and how. The grade system is also new in this state and hence, the teachers should know what to do in the classroom. We had specially requested the board to conduct the training programme as early as possible,” said Shiboprashad Mukhopadhyay, general secretary of All Bengal Teachers Association (ABTA).
There are about 1,70,000 secondary teachers in Bengal. The board will ensure that a sizable proportion of them attend the 5-day training programme. They will go back to their respective schools and train the rest of the teachers. “We will be deciding on the training manual and schedule shortly,” said Sharkar.
The new school session is due to begin on May 2, but full-fledged classes will only start after the summer vacation. Apart from explaining the grade system, the teachers will also be given subject-wise orientation. They will also be updated about the new evaluation process, which would include scanning various competencies of the students such as — knowledge, skill, aptitude and application.
The teachers would also learn how to frame questions under the new syllabus. Apart from annual examinations, the schools are scheduled to conduct 8 unit tests. To incorporate all these changes for the first time, WBBSE will give the teachers a blue print of the academic calendar, which will clearly demarcate when to conduct the unit tests.
However, all teachers’ organisations are not happy with the introduction of the grading system in schools. “The grade system aims at reducing stress. But the way it is being implemented, it will not be able to curb competition. On the contrary, we do not have enough teachers to implement the system,” said Subhankar Bandhyopadhyay, general secretary of Secondary Teachers and Employees Association.
mou.chakraborty@hindustantimes.com