Kochi schools replace marks with emojis for evaluation

KOCHI: Many CBSE schools in the city have moved away from awarding marks or grades for student performance in school tests, opting instead for emojis or stars.

This shift is in line with the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the guidelines set by the CBSE. From this academic year, a "holistic report card" has been introduced for students from kindergarten to Class II, focusing on evaluating children based on their activities rather than traditional written exams.

The new system emphasizes skills such as communication, active learning, and overall health and well-being. Rather than relying on question papers, students are assessed through project work, inquiry-based tasks, quizzes, and group activities, which test their cognitive, emotional, and social abilities, as well as physical coordination. In addition to teacher evaluations, students are encouraged to self-assess, and feedback is also gathered from peers and parents.

To ensure a smooth transition, schools organized meetings for teachers and created integrated assessments. For example, a Math teacher and an English teacher will collaboratively design tasks that assess both language and mathematical skills. "In an English lesson on birthday parties, students might role-play in English while solving math puzzles, helping them develop both language and cognitive skills," explained Sheeba Thomas, Math teacher at Rajagiri Public School.

"We introduced board games to teach Math and EVS, while also stressing the importance of healthy eating and physical fitness alongside academic learning," said Priya C Pillai, principal of Chinmaya Mission School, Tripunithura. The new evaluation system has received positive feedback. "Schools are realizing that early intervention can help build social skills in students from a young age besides reducing the pressures of performance and marks," said Ibrahim Khan, president of the CBSE Management Association.

However, educationists have issued a word of caution. "While students connect better with emojis than with numbers, there's a risk of monotony setting in," said Amruth G Kumar, professor at the Central University of Kerala's School of Education. "Such initiatives can only succeed if teachers remain consistently creative with evaluation methods."

"We are also developing new assessment models to evaluate students, and the holistic report card will be introduced for younger classes in the coming months," said Bobby Joseph, principal of Naipunya Public School. The school also plans to implement the report card for higher grades, up to Grade IX.