Opinion | Aren’t We Producing Qualified Illiterates?

It’s not about exams or marks alone, it is more about teaching them meet age-specific learning outcomes

In Absence of Physical Schooling, Opportunity gaps will translate into wider achievement gaps

Written By
G.N.Shakir, Secretary Private Schools’ Association J&K

Results of 10th and 12th class annual Board examinations are expected in a few days and this year again, like the previous two or three years, we are expecting good pass percentage of students in both the classes. Even the number of distinctions and top positions will be quite encouraging (hope so). Then again, like the previous years, we will boast upon the results and will leave no words unused in praising our children (and also the teachers in some cases) for their extraordinary performance. Praising and applauding our children and encouraging them for their good academic performance is not bad and in fact it is the need of the times that we should encourage our children whenever they perform well in any field but have we ever thought about the negative side of this whole academic scenario? Have we ever pondered over the fact that we are promoting the students just for the sake of their academic years? Taking advantage of Covid pandemic, we have now been promoting our children especially in lower classes under “mass promotion” rule for last more than two years. We are quite aware of the fact that our children have not studied that much which is needed to qualify a particular examination and we also know that our children are deprived of real learning for last three years which is only possible in a physical class room. We are also aware of the fact that online learning has not served the purpose of education at all. We may be teachers, education leaders, officers or policy makers but we all are parents at the same time and know it fully that children are never so attentive during online classes and most often skip the virtual class rooms and instead spend their time in net surfing and other un-necessary or unwanted gamming. Recently, a parent was discussing online learning with me and some other friends. He told that he was astonished to see that his kid, reading in third grade had kept his mobile phone under the pillow while online class was going on and the child himself was playing outside in the compound. The child knew that he just needs attendance and not a visual eye contact with his teacher and thus utilized his time otherwise. This is not the case of a particular child but most of the kids use the same “technique” during online classes. Most students hope that they will be promoted without exams and have not been paying attention to studies.

Then there is the most important case of those children who don’t have android phones or don’t have access to internet most often. What about the children with specific needs? We have not been able to devise learning strategies for such students at all.

Keeping students engaged remotely is a big challenge. Data from various National and International surveys show that student participation in online math coursework decreased by 20 percent compared with participation prior to the pandemic.

But still then we are promoting our children to their next classes just because we don’t want their academic years to be lost. By promoting the students without examinations or without proper teaching learning system, we are in fact producing “qualified illiterates” in our society. Promoting students without proper studies will only make it difficult for them in the future. It’s not about exams or marks alone, it is more about teaching them the subject and ensuring that they meet age-specific learning outcomes. In fact schools are the hub for support like co-curricular activities, mental-health counseling, and childcare. In many homes, especially for low-income families, students lack access to the internet, devices, and a dedicated, quiet place to study. The disparities in basic conditions for learning are reflected in the results of formative assessments.

So for as board examinations are concerned, the JKBOSE and the Education department needs applauds for their efforts to conduct annual examinations in time and in a routine manner despite the pandemic. But the fact of matter is that students did not work so hard during the academic season as they are used to expect grace marks, bonus marks, lenient marking, favor in exam centers and other alike terms for last few sessions. There can be hundreds of examples where the invigilating teams used lenient ways during examinations either because of the pandemic situation or to save their annual increments which are otherwise at stake for bad results.

Our examination system is otherwise also faulty and is not the real test of the performance and capabilities of a student. Experts have been advocating for reforms in examination system for so long but we have not been able to do anything in this regard. We are following the age old examination system which is leading to production of qualified illiterates. In fact a student getting 500 out of 500 marks in board examination, actually gets less than 350 marks because the 150 marks of practical examinations added to his or her score, he or she is getting for no efforts rather free. We know that for last so many years no practical exams are conducted and the marks are being awarded randomly.

Coming back to my point, mass promotions due to closure of schools are likely to prove havoc in the educational scenario in future. The one and only way to protect the future of our nation is to allow physical schooling as early as possible. Promoting students without exams will have an adverse effect on a student as the children won’t achieve learning outcomes or have basic knowledge. In fact schools should reopen for all classes—nursery to class 12 and above, and regular physical classes should be conducted so that students learn basics and all important topics.

Just imagine, a child who has been admitted in Nursery or Kindergarten class in the year 2019, has not even seen his or her school till date nor has had any contact with his or her teachers so far. It is not possible for such a child to groom due to many known reasons and if the child remains out of school for more time, it will tell upon his or her overall mental, physical, emotional and academic performance.

The immediate priority is to prevent further learning loss through a combination of bringing students back to school because experts say that it is now safe to do so and improving remote learning across the board. However, that is not enough. Much damage has already been done. To catch up, many students will need step-up opportunities to accelerate their learning. Now is the time for school systems to prepare post-pandemic strategies that help students to meet their full potential. Left unaddressed, these opportunity gaps will translate into wider achievement gaps.

G.N.Shakir, Secretary Private Schools’ Association J&K

E-mail: psakashmir@gmail.com)