Delhi govt schools to assess students up to class 8 on the basis of worksheets this year

The Delhi government on Wednesday directed all its schools to assess students enrolled from nursery to class 8 on the basis of assignments and worksheets sent to them in both online and offline modes during the Covid-19 pandemic. Irrespective of their assessment, the students enrolled up to class 8 will be promoted to the next class, in accordance with a no-detention policy.

The directorate of education (DoE), however, has not issued any guidelines for the city’s private schools. “Private schools will follow their own criteria to assess the learning levels among students up to class 8,” said a senior government official, not wishing to be named.

With schools remaining closed for these classes since last March and classes being held online, government schools -- where a majority of students do not have access to smart devices and the internet -- are dependent on worksheets or assignments. These worksheets contain both notes and questions. Students can either access them on their class’s WhatsApp group, or parents can pick up hard copies from schools.

In a notification issued on Wednesday, the DoE said, “Since no classroom teaching-learning has taken place at the primary and middle-school level, the formal mode of pen and paper assessment is replaced by assessment based on subject wise assignments/projects in all government and government-aided schools.”

“All currently enrolled students from nursery to class 8 shall be promoted to the next class in the academic session 2021-22. However, the purpose of the assessment is to understand the impact of alternate learning approaches that needed to be adopted under the prevailing circumstances this year. Further, the data of this assessment will also help the DoE in determining the course content and learning strategies for the next session,” the DoE notification said.

Under the no-detention policy, no student can be failed up to class 8.

As per the DoE notification, students from nursery to class 2 will be assessed on the basis of the assignments they were given during the winter break and the responses to online or offline worksheets shared with them during the pandemic.

Similarly, the assessment of students enrolled in classes 3 to 8 will be done on the basis of assignments and worksheets submitted by them during the pandemic and winter break. Also, another round of worksheets/assignments will be sent to these students between March 1 and March 15. In case students have no digital devices, assignments/projects to such students will be allotted in hard copy by calling their parents to school,” the notification added.

Several private schools said they will also assess students on the basis of internal assessments and will also be conducting online exams. Alka Kapur, principal of Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, said, “All students up to class 8 will be promoted to the next class in view of the no-detention policy. But we will assess their learning levels on the basis of their internal assessments and final exams that the school will conduct virtually.”

Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu Public School, said, “The exams of students up to class 8 are currently on in the online mode. The school will also be assessing them on the basis of their internal exams and assignments. Everyone will be promoted to the next class.”