Holistic Progress Card

• 09 Mar 2024

For Prelims: National Council for Educational and Research Training (NCERT), Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH), National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

For Mains: National Council for Educational and Research Training (NCERT), Government Initiatives Related to Educational Reforms.

Source: IE

Why in News?

Recently, the National Council for Educational and Research Training (NCERT) has introduced a new ‘Holistic Progress Card’ (HPC), which will measure, apart from academic performance, a child’s progress in interpersonal relationships, self-reflection, creativity, and emotional application in classrooms.

Note

The HPCs have been devised by Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH), a standard-setting body under the NCERT, for the foundational stage (Classes 1 and 2), preparatory stage (Classes 3 to 5) and middle stage (Classes 6 to 8), as per suggestions by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

What is a Holistic Progress Card (HPC)?

• About:
  • The HPC is a new approach to evaluating students' academic performance that moves away from traditional reliance on marks or grades.
  • Instead, it adopts a comprehensive 360-degree evaluation system that takes into account various aspects of a student's development and learning experience.
• Features:
  • Under the HPC model, students are actively engaged in class activities where they are encouraged to apply a range of skills and competencies, demonstrating their understanding of concepts.
  • The difficulty level they encounter while performing tasks is also considered in the assessment process.
  • Teachers play a crucial role in assessing students' strengths and weaknesses across different dimensions, such as collaboration, creativity, empathy, attention, and preparedness.
  • This allows teachers to identify areas where students may need additional support or guidance.
  • One distinctive feature of the HPC is that it involves students in the evaluation process.
    • Students are encouraged to assess their own performance as well as that of their peers, providing insights into their learning experiences and the learning environment.
  • Moreover, the HPC integrates parents into the assessment process by soliciting their input on various aspects of their child's learning, including homework completion, classroom participation, and balancing screen time with extracurricular activities at home.
• Need:
  • Departing from the traditional emphasis on memorisation, the HPC prioritises the evaluation of higher-order skills, including analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity among students.
  • Aligned with the NEP's directives, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) was introduced in 2023, advocating for a shift towards assessing student progress through the systematic collection of evidence.
    • Additionally, the NCF SE promotes peer and self-assessment methods to empower students in monitoring their own learning journey.
  • To gain a comprehensive understanding of students' core competencies, the NCF SE suggests incorporating diverse classroom assessment methods, such as projects, debates, presentations, experiments, investigations, and role plays. The design of HPC is in harmony with these recommendations.

What is PARAKH?

• About:
  • PARAKH has been launched as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 that envisaged a standard-setting body to advise school boards regarding new assessment patterns and latest research, and promote collaborations between them.
    • It will act as a constituent unit of the NCERT.
  • It will also be tasked with holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.
  • It will work on three major assessment areas: large-scale assessments, school-based assessment, and examination reforms.
• Objective:
  • Uniform Norms & Guidelines: Setting norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognised school boards of India.
  • Enhance Assessment Pattern: It will encourage and help school boards to shift their assessment patterns towards meeting the skill requirements of the 21st century.
  • Reduce Disparity in Evaluation: It will bring uniformity across the state and central boards which currently follow different standards of evaluation, leading to wide disparities in scores.
  • Benchmark Assessment: The benchmark assessment framework will seek to put an end to the emphasis on rote learning, as envisaged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

What is NCF for School Education?

• About:
  • The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) is developed based on the vision of the NEP 2020, and to enable its implementation.
  • The formulation of NCF-SE will be undertaken by the NCERT. The NCFSE document shall henceforth be revisited and updated once every 5-10 years, considering the frontline curriculum.
• Objectives:
  • The NCF-SE serves as a guideline for developing syllabi, textbooks, and teaching practices in India.
  • Its objectives include shifting from rote (memorization by repetition) learning, connecting education to real-life situations, making examinations more flexible, and enriching the curriculum beyond textbooks.
  • The NCFSE also aims to make learning enjoyable, child-centred, and self-reliant, and promote democratic values. It provides guidelines for counseling secondary school students and is mandated for all age groups.

What are the Legal and Constitutional Provisions Related to Education in India?

• Legal Provisions:
  • The government has implemented the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) as part of the Right to Education (RTE) Act for the primary level (6-14 years).
  • Moving to the secondary level (age group 14-18), the government has extended the SSA to secondary education through the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.
  • Higher education, encompassing undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG), and MPhil/PhD levels, is addressed by the government through the Rashtriya Uchhattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) to meet the requirements of higher education.
    • All these schemes have been subsumed under the umbrella scheme of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
• Constitutional Provisions:
  • Article 45 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) initially stipulated that the government should ensure free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 within 10 years of the Constitution's commencement.
  • Furthermore, an amendment to Article 45 broadened its purview to include early childhood care and education for children under six years old.
  • Due to the non-fulfillment of this goal, the 86^th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002 introduced Article 21A, elevating elementary education to the status of a fundamental right instead of a directive principle.

What are the Government Initiatives Related to Educational Reforms?

• National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
• Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan
• PRAGYATA
• Mid Day Meal Scheme
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
• PM SHRI Schools

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question (PYQ)

Prelims:

Q. Which of the following provisions of the Constitution does India have a bearing on Education? (2012)

1. Directive Principles of State Policy
2. Rural and Urban Local Bodies
3. Fifth Schedule
4. Sixth Schedule
5. Seventh Schedule

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3, 4 and 5 only
(c) 1, 2 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Ans- (d)

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Mains:

Q1. Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail. (2021)

Q2. How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate on your answer. (2020)