Teachers do not want unit test in schools

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, July 19, 2007
THE INTRODUCTION of eight unit tests in all government and government-sponsored schools in the state has met with criticism for many teachers.
The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) introduced Continuous and Compulsory Evaluation (CCE) from this year. From Class V onwards, all schools will have to conduct eight unit tests in a year followed by an annual exam. While four unit tests will carry 15 marks each, the remaining four will be of 10 marks each.
The teachers feel that this system has many loopholes. “We agree that the existing exam system has flaws, but the new one will not work. The schools do not have the required manpower to conduct so many exams and evaluate answer scripts each month. The board should have discussed it with teachers’ associations and academicians before introducing the system,” said Ratan Lashkar, former general secretary of Secondary Teachers and Employees’ Association (STEA).
About 200 teachers affiliated to the STEA, on Thursday met the secretary of WBBSE Swapan Sharkar and urged him to change the CCE format.
Lack of teachers is not the only problem. Even if the teachers manage to hold the tests and evaluate answer scripts, the schools do not have the space to store the sheets.
Not only this, to accommodate remedial teaching classes from this year, school hour has being extended by half-an-hour. Teachers complained that the students were not getting much time to prepare for the exam due to its frequency and late school hours.
Another very big problem for the schools is to arrange money for conducting unit tests. “Students pay Rs 12 annually as exam fee. With such meagre amount it is not possible to provide question papers for the tests. Many schools are writing down the questions on the blackboard,” said Lashkar.
The eight unit tests will carry 100 marks and as per board rule, a student must score at least 25 to clear the exam. “Earlier, students had to get 34 per cent to pass the exams. But the new system has lowered the pass mark and with it the standard,” said Lashkar.
The West Bengal Headmasters’ Association has also opposed the introduction of CCE. They will soon hold a convention to protest against the new system.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com