Indian Express 09.08.2010
Aptitude check on BMC schoolkids
Express News Service Tags : education Posted: Mon Aug 09 2010, 03:07 hrs
Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will conduct a survey to gauge the civic school students’ aptitude and achievement level in a bid to improve the effectiveness of teaching in these schools, where students are often found unable to solve simple mathematical problems or understand basic English.Planned as part of implementation of schemes for the Union Government’s Right To Education Act, the survey will include testing students from classes III to VI in the language of instruction, mathematics, English and science, under Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation. A private firm will be roped for the exercise and there will be baseline tests on these subjects. Civic schools offering education in English, Hindi and Marathi mediums will be included in the survey.
“We want to identify the general minimum level of students’ understanding in these basic subjects. If a particular student’s test papers are not up to mark, we can recognise it and work on improving their aptitude,” BMC education officer Aabasaheb Jadhav said.
The survey is also prompted by the state government’s adherence to a clause in the RTE Act against failing any students and instead promoting them after adequate training. “Students with poor knowledge will be given additional coaching. We also plan to have activity-based learning.” The BMC plans to come up with new methods and mechanism to train the students.
