CONTINUOUS COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION : REJUVENATING EVALUATION

Dr. (Mrs.) Surinderpal Kaur Dhillon* Dr. (Mrs.) Surinder Kaur ** Abstract Modern concept of evaluation is very broad. It does not confine itself to mere conduct of tests or examinations. Examinations, oral or written, constitute a small part of evaluation. Evaluation warrants the determination of specific educational goals. There is a criticism that the previous system of evaluation was aimed at evaluating and enriching only the academic achievements of the learner, especially his ability to memorize and reproduce information. In fact, even in the cognitive domain knowledge is a very preliminary educational objective, which has to lead to higher objectives, viz. application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, problem solving and creativity. If evaluation is comprehensive, continuous and objective-based, then it will help to know the strengths, weaknesses, interests and attitudes of the pupil and thus will help in the all-round development of the individual as education aims. Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation means a regular assessment of all the aspects -scholastic and co-scholastic-of pupil's learning in the school. CBSE under the guidance of HRD Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal has taken the lead in reforming the education system and introduced the new Concept Continuous Comprehensive Education. Now the question arises that why is there a need of this concept brought forward by Mr. Sibal. I believe the answers are there are a few slides self evident. I would like to show you which will make it quite clear to one and all. Every year, the parents and the children were traumatized because of the School Board Examination fear. Students scoring less marks than their expectations were unable to bear the pressure and sometimes committed suicide. This was very pathetic situation. To overcome this problem, CBSE has introduced number of reforms in the school education sector like grading system and continuous comprehensive evaluation. The focus for the coming decade is on affective implementation of Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation. Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation aims to make
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Dean, Faculty of Education, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. * Reader, Khalsa College of Education, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar.

learning more interesting for students who are intellectually strong and creative and at the same time focus on the students who are average but have strong aptitude for vocational skills. The schools will take the holistic assessment of a learner which will include both scholastic and co-scholastic aspects of pupils growth helping the all round development of the child. While the scholastic aspect deals with development of mental abilities, the co-scholastic aspect deals with development of life skills, attitudes and values, sports and games to prepare futuristic citizens for a globalized society. So there is a dire need to strengthen the education and evaluation system. The continuous comprehensive evaluation is multi-dimensional as it involves multiple-techniques and different persons like teachers, pupils, peers, parents, community etc. Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation not only reduce the stress of students, but will also help them to identify at regular intervals the areas of learning which require improvements. The past system of evaluation was mechanical, stereotyped and unable to measure the child in a comprehensive way. The quality of questions that were asked in the exams stress on memorization and fail to assess the students capacity to apply reasoning and analytical skills to make a judgement. There are three domains which are taken into consideration for evaluating a child i.e. cognitive domain, affective domain and psychomotor domain. The cognitive domain deals with the mental level of a child. Affective domain deals with the social and emotional skills of a child whereas psycho motor domain deals with the action skills such as drawing, making graphs, making useful things etc. In the past system of education cognitive domain was given more importance in comparison with other domains. Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation plays an important role in the teaching learning process, which provides direction to both teachers and students to proceed in a systematic manner. When an evaluation system encompasses cognitive, affective and Skills psychomotor domains it can become a comprehensive one.
Self Learning Skills Group Activity Communicative

It is essential that we check at each step of learning, whether Skills educational objectives stipulated in the curriculum are realized, using scientific ways Problem Solving and means, for ensuring a comprehensive evaluation in learning. In fact, comprehensive evaluation
Skills Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills Creativity Skills

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should bring out the level of development of the following basic skills, viz. basic life skills suitable for modern social context, communicative skills, self-learning skills, problem-solving skills, group activity skills, critical thinking, and analytical skills, creativity skill to pursue a set target etc. Besides, evaluation should be able to bring out and enrich special talents in each learner. Evaluation should be suitable for the activitybased curriculum in which there is emphasis on the 'how' of learning as on the 'what' of learning. The new evaluation scheme should concentrate more on process than product of the teaching-learning process. Moreover, as learning is a continuous ongoing process, evaluation has to be also carried out as a continuous process. It helps to identify those positive attributes of the learner which are not usually assessed during the written examinations. As the assessment spreads throughout the year, it provides several opportunities for the school to identify the latent talents of the learner in different contexts. It helps teachers and students to make the necessary modification of the teaching-learning process in the light of performance of students measured in Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation. Realizing the importance of evaluation in the teaching learning process various committees and commissions gave their recommendations to improve the quality of evaluation. Report on the Committee for Review of NPE-1986-recommendation brought out by Government of India in 1991 lays down norms for "Continuous comprehensive internal evaluation and suggests safeguards against abuse of this evaluation system". Report on the CABE Committee on Policy brought out by MHRD, Govt. of India in January, 1992 has also referred to the provisions of NPE with regard to evaluation process and examination reforms and also suggested 'continuous and comprehensive internal evaluation of the scholastic and non-scholastic achievement of the students'. The Kothari Commission report (1966) observed, 'On the completion of the course, at the end of the lower or higher secondary stage, the student should receive a certificate from the school also giving the record of his internal assessment as contained in his cumulative record. This certificate may be attached to that given by the Board in connection with the external examination...'. It further adds, 'This internal assessment or evaluation conducted by the schools is of greater significance and should be given

increasing importance. It should be comprehensive, evaluating all those aspects of students' growth that are measured by the external examination and also those personality traits, interests and attitudes which cannot be assessed by it.' The Report of the Task Force on the Role and status of the Board of Secondary Education (1997) observed: In our scheme of things, it is the School Boards which are expected to play the central role in the academic renovation of the school system. In other words, leadership has to come from the Board. Once the Boards get committed to this vital and supplementary system of evaluation and push it vigorously, this innovation will come to be accepted by more and more schools. "Learning without Burden"- a Report of the National Advisory Committee appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education, Govt. of India has stated that: "Board examination, taken at the end of Class X and XII, have remained rigid, bureaucratic, and essentially uneducative..." Accordingly, National Curriculum Framework - 2005 (NCF-05) proposing Examination Reforms stated -"Indeed, boards should consider, as a long-term measure, making the Class X examination optional, thus permitting students continuing in the same school (and who do not need a board certificate) to take an internal school examination instead". In accordance with the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework (2005) and National Knowledge Commission (2008) schools will to revamp the internal school assessment especially in the area of quality leading to enhanced learning. Conclusion So, we can rightly say that it is Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation is "Child Centered Education". The purpose of education, generally at all levels of schooling and specifically at secondary level, should not just be to assess the level of growth, but more so to improve it. This could be accomplished by shifting the emphasis from classification, certification and class promotion to diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses and the provision for remedial or enrichment instruction, aimed at realizing the optimum level of growth. Thus evaluation at secondary stage ought to be designed so as to provide the necessary feedback required to reinforce the educational process. It also ought to yield necessary data for pupil placement in respect of their respective levels of achievements,

proficiencies and skills. Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation is helpful for attaining all these. Moreover, the evaluation method which is comprehensive and continuous in nature will gives a more accurate and immediate feedback to the teacher and the students about the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process. If it is possible to assess and train the various aspects of what the student needs to live a good life, then we can expect good quality outcome which is perfectly adapted to the society and would be as per the expectations of the country. If the students who come out from our schools are of good quality then certainly it will contribute to the quality of education itself.

References

Education and National Development (1970): Report of the Education Commission: 1964-66, National Council of Educational Research and Training Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi-110016.

National Curriculum Framework (2005) National council of Educational research and training, New Delhi; NCERT. National Curriculum Frame Work for School Education (2005), National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi-110016. Oosterhof, Albert (1994). Classroom Application Educational Measurement, New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Payne, David Allen (2003). Applied Educational Assessment, Belmont. CA; Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Rajput, J.S. (2004). Quality of School Education. Encyclopaedia of Indian Education Vol. II (L-Z), New Delhi: NCERT. Santosh Kumar et al., Evaluation practices across the States (2004), A Report of National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg New Delhi-110 016

Srivasthava, H.S. (1999). Challenges In Educational Evaluation, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. Stiggins, Stiggins. J. (1994). Student Centred Classroom Assessment, New York: Macmillan College Publishing Company. Tewari AD et.al., (2004), Policy Perspectives in Educational Evaluation, A report of National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg New Delhi-110 016.

Venkataiah (Ed). (2001). Quality Education, New Delhi: Anmol publications Pvt. Ltd. Ward, Annie. W. & Vard, Mildred Murray. (1999). Assessment in the Classroom, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.