Self-assessment key in student learning at secondary level: NCF steering committee

Source: The post is based on the article “Self-assessment key in student learning at secondary level: NCF steering committee” published in TOI on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The draft National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education 2023 has been released.

What are the key recommendations given by the NCF for School Education 2023?

Multiple board exams: Board exams should be conducted multiple times a year to ensure that students have enough time and opportunity to perform well.

Freedom for students to pursue a mix of science and humanities to reduce the rigid boundaries separating arts, commerce and science in classes 11 and 12 across school boards.

– In the current system, a student who has picked a combination of Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry cannot simultaneously study History or Political Science. But under the proposed system, that will be possible as there will be “no hard separation” among arts, humanities, and sciences. 

Assessment: The aim of assessment in the culture of our schooling system should shift from one that is summative and primarily tests rote memorisation skills to one that is more regular and formative, is more competency-based, promotes learning and development for our students.

The draft suggested three approaches to assessments—assessment ‘of learning’ (measurement of achievement of student learning), ‘for learning’ (evidence of student learning gathered by the teacher that provides inputs to guide teaching-learning processes) and ‘as learning’ (when assessments are introduced as non-threatening tools for self-reflection and introspection).