HRD ministry to conduct ‘learning outcomes assessment’ in October

The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry is gearing up to conduct the first country-wide assessment based on the recently introduced learning outcomes prepared by National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) by October. The ministry is likely to issue a notification on the learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes are the expected levels of learning that children between classes 1 and 8 should achieve. The assessment is expected to be held sometime in September-October. “States will be sent the question banks and the results of the assessment will be used to measure the gaps and finds ways of addressing them,” said a senior official. It is yet to be decided how the assessment will be conducted – whether the states will conduct it or a third party. NCERT will be preparing the question banks and forwarding them to the examining authority.

“This assessment will be benchmarked against the learning outcomes already finalised and will act as a tool to identify students who need additional support to achieve the required learning levels. It will also assist teachers in identifying the gaps in the teaching-learning process...,” said a senior official.

The outcomes are aimed at making a shift from rote learning. For instance, they assess if a class 8 student can demonstrate how to file a First Information Report (FIR), if a class 7 student is able to locate his/her constituency on a parliamentary constituency map and name the local MP, a class 4 student is able to read subtitles on TV, titles of books, news headlines.

Source: Hindustan Times, 13-02-2017