Promote all school students next year or use internal assessment mechanism instead of exams: Kapil Sibal

With uncertainty looming over the 2020-2021 academic session of schools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, former Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Sunday said either all students barring those in Class 12 be promoted or an internal assessment mechanism be put in place to save them from examination stress next year.

The senior Congress leader also suggested that courses can be reduced both in schools and universities and the teaching time lost in the 2020-21 session due to the pandemic could be made up in the next year with extra effort from both the teacher and student communities.

Various universities will also have to take a decision on whether or not to delay the academic session and they have the autonomy to take a call and a decision cannot be forced on them, Sibal told PTI in an interview.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued guidelines to universities that the new academic session for freshers will begin from September while for the existing students from August.

However, it has said the guidelines are advisory in nature and varsities may chalk out their own plans according to the COVID-19 pandemic prevailing in their areas.

Asked about the uncertainty looming large over the 2020-21 academic session in schools which are shut and holding online classes, Sibal said going forward there could be two options that can be considered for school students barring those in Class 12.

One way is to promote everybody and take some extra classes when the pandemic is over as well as ensure students complete their course in the next class, Sibal said.

"The other way is that if you are confident that your teachers will make an objective assessment of the student community which a majority of them might, then you leave it to them and the school to make the internal assessment and promote those to Class 11 who have done well (or to the next class for students of other classes)," he said, asserting that it would save the students from the examination stress.

He, however, cautioned that internal assessment may throw up problems of subjectivity and objectivity has to be ensured.

It is finally up to the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry to decide on such issues, he added.

Innovative ways should be found so that students are not punished for what they are not in control of, said Sibal, who was the HRD Minister from May 2009-October 2012 in the UPA-II government.

As the HRD minister, Sibal had spearheaded a reforms process in the education sector under which it was decided to abolish compulsory CBSE Board exams for Class X. However, in 2018 the CBSE reverted to the mandatory examination for Class 10.

Asked about pending classes 10 and 12 CBSE as well as other board exams, the Rajya Sabha member said, "I think as far as Class 10 board exams are concerned there should be a re-think. For Class 12 board exams, I think that in the light of the pandemic, the university calendar for the year should change and in that context let's hope for the lockdown to be over and then the exams can be conducted."