6L students give baseline tests in Ngp

Nagpur: Over the last two days, around six lakh school students have appeared for the baseline tests in Nagpur district as part of a state-level initiative to understand how much of what is taught in schools has been understood by the students. On Thursday, English language exam was held while on Friday, Maths and Science papers were held. This particular test was for students from II-VIII.Dipendra Lokhande, district education officer (primary dept), said, “The exam was conducted in schools from all boards and we had a good response. After evaluation schools will have to upload the marks online into our servers.” This year, however, there were no flying squads for invigilation as the education department believed schools will be able to conduct the exams fairly. “We delegated the entire responsibility to schools and neither our staff nor anyone from outside had come,” Lokhande added.
These tests are conducted by the Maharashtra State Council for Education, Research and Training (MSCERT). The education department wants to improve the level of students in subjects like languages (mainly English) and Maths and Science compared to other states. For this, apart from the regular curriculum and internal exams, the education department found it was necessary to have a uniform test across the state.
These tests, started from last academic session, will be conducted thrice a year so the improvement or decline in learning ability can be tracked. The combined results of the three tests will give the department a better idea on how the students have been performing. Last year, only two tests were conducted because of certain logistical issues, with the major point being about improper communication with most schools.
While across the state, these tests were conducted on Thursday and Friday, in Gadchiroli the exam will be held in second week of August. The education department has not given any reason officially, sources said the delay was a result of the bandh call given by the Naxalites. The call has created logistical and transportation problems due to which question papers could not be transported to all schools.