No written or oral test for pre-school students: NCERT

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has stated that no child in pre-school should have to give any written or oral exam as it is a harmful and undesirable practice.

According to the Council, which is the HRD Ministry’s curriculum developing body, the purpose of evaluation at the pre-school stage is not to label a child as “pass” or “fail”.

“On no account, should children be made to take any form of test or examination either oral or written. The purpose of evaluation at the pre-school stage is not to label a child as ‘pass’ or ‘fail’,” a senior NCERT official said.

“Currently we have in the country, pre-school programmes ranging from those that put children to a dull and monotonous routine to those where children are exposed to structured formal learning, often in English, made to do tests and homework, and denied their right to play. These are undesirable further and harmful practice that results from misguided parental aspiration,” the official added.

Following this news, the Council has made a list of some do’s and don’ts that state how the assessment should be carried out and reported as part of the “guidelines for pre-school education.”

These guidelines have also mentioned parameters for infrastructure, qualifications and salary for pre-school staff, admission process and records and registers that have to be maintained, monitoring and supervision mechanism and the importance of coordination and convergence with the community and parents.