NCERT to measure learning outcome of students soon

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will conduct a nationwide survey of the country's elementary schools in October-November to measure class-wise and subject-wise learning outcome of the students under a defined set of indicators for the first time.

The Survey will be “sample based” and will cover all the districts in each of the States and the Union Territories (UTs).

“The district level reports are scheduled to be generated by the end of this year and thereafter a detailed technical report by March 2018,” a Ministry official said.

Earlier, the mega exercise was scheduled to be held in the month of September-October.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry recently notified class-wise and subject-wise minimum learning outcome to be achieved by every school student at the end of their academic session.

The Ministry has amended the Right to Education (RTE) Act Rules to incorporate in it a well-defined indicator for measuring minimum learning outcome of every individual student of Classes I to VIII to give it a legal backing.

The move is aimed at ensuring that no pupil in a class is left behind others in terms of his or her academic progress. It also seeks to make teachers and schools more accountable for their jobs as the measurement of learning outcome of each of the students will bring the ground realities into the light and help the government take corrective measures.

“This is expected to help improve the quality and standards of our school education,” a Ministry official said.

The has laid down the minimum learning outcome along with suggested pedagogical interventions required to help children achieve them. The document has been shared with the States and UTs to enable them to incorporate indicators into the RTE Rules, framed by them.

The HRD Ministry has also held several workshops to sensitize and apprise the State officials and the schools with the process to be adopted for measurement of minimum learning outcome of elementary school students in the light of the indicators developed by the NCERT.

“The Ministry is also formulating methods for assessment of the school teachers’ performance. Students’ feedback would be one of the key components of the exercise,” a Ministry official said.