The Ministry of Education and PARAKH, or Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development, recently organised the first National level workshop for states and union territories in New Delhi. The workshop focused on the assessment of schools, examination methods and equivalence of boards.
PARAKH is a platform designed to connect all stakeholders with an aim to create an equitable assessment system. The National Council of Educational Research and Training is answerable for the development and operation of this platform.
The workshop was chaired by Secretary Sanjay Kumar from the Department of School Education & Literacy. Various other officials from the Ministry of Education, CBSE, NCERT, NIOS, NCVET and NCTE attended the event. Representatives from state education secretaries, state project directors of schools, SCERT and examination boards from across India were also present.
During his address to the participants, Sanjay Kumar mentioned the challenges of establishing a unified system for equivalence of boards. As it stands, there are about 60 exam boards operating across India. It is important to ensure consistency across boards and distributions of curriculum standards, grading systems and evaluation procedures to provide credibility and recognition of certificates and grades.
The primary focus of the workshop was to initiate a discussion on equivalence across educational boards. It was equally addressed to bring to light the traditional school examination culture in the present system and its need for holistic assessment. An effort to find an equilibrium between summative assessments and exams that determine the student’s progress was also discussed.
Additionally, analysis of secondary and higher secondary examination results was presented.
PARAKH is an organisation that enables the far-stretching and life-defining impact of quality education. It works to address the inequalities in the system, and undertake larger initiatives and promote revolutionary changes that bring about true transformation.
