The Times of India            27.11.2013

AMC to evaluate performances of standard V and VII students

AURANGABAD: To improve the educational standard in its schools, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will now evaluate the performance of students in classes V and VII, starting next month.

On Tuesday, A M Shaikh, education officer in the AMC said that writing, reading and mathematical problem-solving abilities of the students will be judged through a questionnaire.

"We have undertaken a slew of measures to bring in a change in teaching patterns in civic schools. Teachers have been asked to follow a specific time-table from the new academic session. Students have been provided with books and other material. In addition to this, municipal commissioner Harshdeep Kamble has also visited some of the AMC-run schools and reviewed the teaching methodology," Shaikh said.

About 19,000 students are currently enrolled in 78 schools run by the civic body. Of these, 52 schools offer education up to the primary level (from Class I to Class VII), while there are only 23 higher primary level (Class VI to Class VIII) schools.

So, while Class V and Class VIII students should have been ideally evaluated, to get the highest representative sample for both categories, Class VII has been chosen instead.

"From the primary school category (classes I to VII), we have planned to involve students of Class V, while from the higher primary (classes VI to VIII) we will be conducting the test for Class VII students," Shaikh said.

Shaikh said the civic body was looking forward to analyzing the impact of its initiatives through the evaluation. "A special team of teachers and head-masters have been set up for the purpose. The team will visit all AMC schools and randomly select students in Standard V and VII for the evaluation," he said.

"The AMC may replicate the process for students in other classes, if required," Shaikh said.