CThe Central Board Secondary Education (CBSE) is one of the most reputed and popular boards of education in India. A board of education lays down a structure for schools to follow. The structure includes certain rules and regulations that the school needs to abide by for smooth functioning. The board also has guidelines related to the curriculum and examination system. The CBSE board too has its guidelines in place which all schools affiliated with it follow in principle.
The CBSE board system of education is considered to be more student-friendly than other boards in India. Their focus is more on learning the concepts rather than rote learning of facts. As most people will think that assessment is all about tests and term examinations which are primarily in a written question-answer form. However, assessment is not about judging the performance of children but rather it is about knowing where the child is at and what needs to be done for the child to progress. This cannot be achieved through written tests and examinations at the end of completing a chunk of syllabus. This is a continuous process that has to happen during teaching and learning process.
This approach to enhance every child’s learning is also reflected in the CBSE’s system of examinations and evaluations. The system is based on continuous evaluation which is done comprehensively. Usual system of evaluations followed by schools in India earlier was the term examinations and unit tests. However, with positive changes in the CBSE board, CBSE schools in India follow a different pattern. Even though term examinations still exist, assessments are also done on a continuous basis in the classroom. Assessment is not only down through written tests but includes a variety of methods. For example, classroom activities of various kinds are a part of the assessment system in CBSE. Activities can be individual, in pairs or in groups. Teachers use pre-created rubrics to understand the level of learning of every child. Based on this level, the learning process of children can be further enhanced. Different kind of creative projects are also given to students and are assessed by teachers to comprehend their learning levels.
This assessment process is helpful for teachers too as they are able to know how much and how well students are grasping the concepts being taught. It becomes difficult for the teacher to re-teach concepts at the end of completing a topic. However, the CBSE system of assessment allows teachers to gauge students’ understanding while the topic is being taught. This enables teachers to tweak their teaching methods so that all students are able to grasp the topic well. This also proves to fruitful for students as they are able to learn better and perform better in term examinations.
Many good schools like Millennium Schools are affiliated with the CBSE board. The Millennium School and Millennium World School are top CBSE schools in India that lay emphasis on student learning rather than measurement of performance. For these schools, each child is unique and the main aim is to help each child discover her potential and excel in it. Their approach is unique which has won them several awards and accolades.