J&K parents, teachers, students upbeat on new assessment plan

SRINAGAR: Students, teachers and parents are looking forward to the implementation of Student Assessment and Evaluation Scheme (SAES), under which uniform question papers will be formulated for all government and government-recognised schools, from the upcoming academic session in Jammu and Kashmir.
It is in place to mention that the J&K administration is implementing NEP-2020 in all the educational sectors, including higher education in Jammu and Kashmir, to remove all the bottlenecks of the past so that students from Jammu and Kashmir get a level playing field to compete with the rest of the students in the country. According to the Director Education Kashmir, in the upcoming academic session, students would be assessed and evolved under this new scheme and there would be uniform question papers for all the students in all the schools.
Kashmir valley has a lot of prominent Christian missionary schools, private English medium schools, while the rolls in the government schools are very thin. Students in Srinagar studying in private English medium schools said that already, there have been a lot of changes seen in the schools after the Covid period. “We participate in many activities, especially in debates, art camps and also in skill competitions. We are looking forward to having more changes so that we get better opportunities,” said Moeindin Naqash, who is a student in Kashmir Harvard Higher Secondary School of Srinagar. Earlier, an official spokesman said that the decision to implement Student Assessment and Evaluation Scheme (SAES), will help to develop all the facilities of a student and will put an end to the traditional examination system in Jammu and Kashmir.
Principal of a prominent machinery school of Srinagar described the decision as timely. He said, “This scheme from the coming academic session will help the students in learning and also in their personality development. It will make it easy to assess and talk to their parents about their learning and aptitude.”
“It will make us believe in ourselves as we can develop our hidden talent within the schools if we are encouraged to go for our dreams,” said Munazah Mehraj and Suliah Ashraf who are reading in 10th class in LP high school of Srinagar.
Falak Zehra, a class 10 student of LP School of Srinagar, had innovated a nutcracker and it was selected for the award by the government under the scheme State Level Exhibition and Project Competition (SLEPC). Talking to this reporter, Falak Zehra said that post Covid, they have been very active in school and there is a lot of focus on skill development of students.
Teachers of different private schools of Srinagar said that uniform question papers will bring all the schools on a par with each other and will provide equal opportunities for all students. “We have been working on skill development of the students. We are trying to encourage them to go for debates and other such activities to develop their personality,” said Muzamil Akhtar, General Line teacher in a prominent school of Srinagar. Teachers are hopeful that by this new concept of a report card about the student, parents will also be able to understand what career will suit their ward in the long run. “We are holding frequent parents-teachers’ meetings and the interaction with the students is frequent after the Covid period. Most of the students are forthcoming to join different activities in the schools and we are only encouraging them to do so,” said Afshana, who is an SST teacher in a prominent school in Srinagar.
It is in place to mention that official spokesman of J&K government, while announcing the decision to implement Student Assessment and Evaluation Scheme (SAES), said that the students would receive a multi-dimensional report card or a holistic progress card in place of a grade sheet, which would reflect each learner’s individuality and progress in detail. The official spokesman of the J&K government said that software assisted by artificial intelligence would create a 360-degree perspective of a student’s progress and help him choose the best career.