Author: Dr.Ted Mockrish ,Head of School, Canadian International School, Bengaluru.
When we talk about innovation, unfortunately, education is among the last sectors that actually make a change and move away from long-held practices to more innovative, research-proven practices.
India announced a National Educational Policy (NEP) 2020 almost two years ago. Covid-19 has surely delayed its implementation. One huge change in the NEP is the change from the “10+2” (Grades 1-10 + grades 11-12) to the 5-3-3-4 model (PreK-Grade 2; Grades 3-5; Grades 6-8; and Grades 9-12). Reallocating teacher and leader training towards this model will have an amazing impact on how, when, and what we teach in India. The biggest impact this will have is removing the need for the ever-present Grade 10 Board exams. Why is there a grade 10 board exam when high school finishes in grade 12? One answer is that forty odd years ago the four-year high school program was changed to the 10+2 model with students opting to either continue two more years of high school or stop schooling; hence, the need for a grade 10 board.
The Grade 10 Board exams are so powerfully fixed in the Indian educational mindset that an engineer with a master’s degree and 10 years of practical experience still needs to list this in their resume when applying for a job 15 years after the grade 10 boards. It seems odd to place so much emphasis on an exam that only measures a small amount of a person’s learning and education and professional trajectory.
The amount of time spent on the grade 10 boards could mbe better spent teaching and learning about subjects and developing conceptual understanding.
The most innovative thing that can be done in India to alter and change the approach to teaching and learning is to do away with Grade 10 Board exams and retrain teachers and school leaders, along with parents, as to what is needed for the future, what is worth learning,m and how we should learn. If the weight of the Grade 10 boards continues, no other educational innovation will be possible as they will all be window dressing until the time comes to prep for exams, often a year in advance. This is a serious loss of educational time for all of India’s students to learn what is truly needed in this evolving world. We can no longer think about what just works in India for the Indian labor market – but within the greater context of India’s growing share in the world market.
