Write way - students to assess themselves

BANGALORE: Can you greet your friends? Can you list the names of animals and birds? These are some of the questions asked in the `self-evaluation' tool for Class 5 students in English.
Introduced as a pilot project for Class 5 government schoolchildren, if successful, this will be extended to other classes. The government has designed the format where a list of questions (related to competencies) is given to schools.
Falling under the Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), this tool enables children to assess their own learning skills.After each chapter/competency, there will be a list of competencies for which the student has to say yes or no. For instance, `I listen and can tell the names of the objects'; `I can tell the names of the objects given in the classified chart'; `I can write the names of 10 objects which I see while coming to school'.
"The answers will be submitted to the class teacher. If the student has answered in the negative, then he/she will be given remedial teaching. If the majority answer in the negative, then the teacher can change the methodology,'' Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan sources told TOI.
Teachers also assess students through unit and sub-unit tests. "Sometimes, during class hours, teachers ask questions on the subject they are teaching to know how much students have understood,'' sources added.
Teachers are trained in this self-evaluation tool during the training programme held every year through teleconferencing. "Last July, we informed teachers on how this tool worked. They were told the merits and demerits of the tool,'' sources said.
The department started issuing this format only a fortnight ago. "This was supposed to be done at the time of commencement of classes. But the agency in Mysore, whom we had given the publishing work, delayed the process. We have sent a notice to him,'' sources said.
The education department has also decided to evaluate classrooms and schools across the state. The parameters include infrastructure, enrolment, library, teaching tools and kitchen room to prepare the mid-day meals.