A government school in central Calcutta is holding its test (rehearsal examination) twice to assess whether the students have adequate preparedness to write the board examinations based on the entire syllabus next year.
Usually, the rehearsal examinations are held once before students write their board examinations after a gap of a few months.
Another gover nment school said they would scrutinise the results of the rehearsal examinations that began on November 16 to identify the deficiencies among students.
After the review, they would hold another round of remedial classes before the students sit for their secondary and higher secondary examinations.
Last year, the board examinations were held on a truncated syllabus because of the closure of the schools necessitated by the pandemic.
Schools are putting in the extra effort so the students who are still struggling from the pandemic-induced learning deficiencies do not underperform at the board level.
On November 14, the state secondary education board told the government and government-aided schools that the selection test for Class X must be held between November 17 and November 30.
Schools will hold the rehearsal exams for the higher secondary around the same time.
Debabrata Mukherjee, the headmaster of Sanskrit Collegiate School on College Street said they will hold the rehearsal examinations twice.
The first one started on November 17 and ended on November 26.
“Thereafter, the teachers will evaluate the scripts and point out the learning gaps. Students would be asked to attend the classes for the doubt-clearing session by the respective teachers. From December 8, the second tier of the rehearsal examinations would be held,” Mukherjee told The Telegraph.
The school has printed two sets of questions for the test examinations this year.
In many state-aided schools, the two summative tests have shown learning deficiencies and also the inability to write for long periods.
The closure of physical school from March 2020 to February 2022 because of the Covid-induced lockdown has taken a heavy toll, a teacher of another city school said.
The 57-day-long summer break that the state government announced because of the heatwave-like situation from May 2 has not helped matters.
The 57-day-long summer break that the state government announced because of the heatwave-like situation from May 2 has not helped matters.
Sanskrit Collegiate School hosted the classes.
Papia Singha Mahapatra, the headmistress of Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls’ High School, said it was a must that the remedial classes are held multiple times so students could perform to the best of their abilities at the board examinations.