CBSE to introduce simplified report cards

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) school teachers will get relief from the burden of maintaining ‘lengthy’ records of the students’ co-scholastic activities with the implementation of a revised system for the assessment and preparation of report cards for Classes VI to IX from April this year.

“Teachers can now prepare the report cards for co-scholastic activities of the students on the basis of the diaries (teacher’s diary) that they have to maintain. This will reduce their burden of maintaining lengthy records of students’ co-scholastic activities. They need not waste their energy on unnecessary lengthy and repetitive documentation under the revised system,” a senior official of the board said.

Assessment separated
Tweaking the continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) system, the CBSE has separated assessment of the students’ performance in co-scholastic areas from that of the scholastic areas for Classes VI to IX.

As per the decision of the board notified last week, CBSE school students will be assessed separately for their performance in the scholastic and co-scholastic areas from the academic year 2017-18.

Under the system followed in CBSE schools so far, 40 % weightage is given to the students’ performance in co-scholastic areas and 60 % weightage to the scholastic areas in their overall assessment in an academic year.

“In many of the schools, certain software was being used to help teachers prepare the report card of the students giving due weightage to their performance in scholastic and co-scholastic areas as it was a complex and arduous task. Under the revised system, there is no scope for using any software to prepare students report cards in such a mechanical manner,” the CBSE official said.

Will not dilute
The delinking of the students’ assessment of co-scholastic areas from the scholastic areas, however, will not dilute the essence of the CCE. “While there will be an enhanced focus on the academics and learning outcome of the students under the revised system, teachers can monitor and assess their holistic development under co-scholastic activities with equal focus,” the official said.

For the co-scholastic activities, students will be graded term-wise on a three-point grading scale—A (Outstanding), B (Very Good) and C (Fair). The aspects of regularity, sincere participation, output and teamwork be the generic criteria for the grading.