CCE - Is it a boon or farce ?

M Bidyasagar *

CCE is an abbreviated form of continuous and comprehensive evaluation, which was introduced for the first time in the Secondary Level (Class IX and X) in all CBSE affiliated schools from the academic session 2010. The Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) as well as any of the School Education Boards in the country do not introduce the CCE scheme in the higher secondary level i.e. in Class XI and XII as the admission in degree colleges or professional institutions is done after senior secondary stage where direct numerical scores are awarded.

The CBSE in order to propagate the new policy of the MHRD, Government of India that there should be only one public examination in one pupil's school life, is in the process of scraping the Secondary School Examination/Class X Examination. This is to reduce the stress which can result in the examination phobia, depression, tendency to suicide etc. and to make the youthful life more fulfilling and enjoying. Hence, CCE will replace all the examinations upto Class X.

The main objective of the continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) is the school- based evaluation of the pupil on a continuous process throughout the year. The other part of it is the assessment of the pupil in the other co-scholastic areas like sports, arts, culture, music etc. The teachers have to be trained professionally so that their judgment when made through an honest and objective appraisal without bias is the basis of CCE.

The CBSE before winding up the Class X Board Examination completely made the Board Examination optional as an interim measure. A student may appear either Board Examination or the Examination conducted by their own school. The CBSE is issuing the same certificate and mark sheet for both the examinations. There is no difference at all in the certificates and marks sheet issued for the two.

As a result, there was uproar in the state a few months back over the issue that a large number of students disproportionately over the normal capacity of some CBSE affiliated schools passed out the School-based Class X Examination. They were given the same certificate and mark sheet as that of the CBSE Board Class X Examination.

The Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur (COHSEM) is also going to implement the CCE scheme for the first time in the coming Class XII examination i.e. Higher Secondary Examination 2013. However, the CCE as proposed by the COHSEM consist of 20% of the school- based internal assessment and 80% of the annual council examination.

This means that the student has to appear 100 marks full paper for each subject in the final council examination and only 80% of his score will be tabulated in his final mark sheet. This will in no way reduce the tension of the student, which is the main proposition of the alternative system of evaluation. Further, there will be no ranks and divisions but only the grades. v Mr. Krishna Kumar, former NCERT director, feels CCE in its present form can't substitute a good school-leaving examination. "The Class XII exam has its sanctity, whether or not colleges use it. There is no alternative but to improve the exam's quality and shift focus from testing memory alone to judging a range of abilities, such as the capacity to imagine," he says (Times of India, Delhi 27 Jun 2012).

From the next academic session 2013-14, there is a drastic change in the criteria for all India entrance examinations for admission to medical, engineering and other professional courses. The All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) will be replaced by the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG), which is now scheduled to be held on Sunday, the 5th May, 2013. The former All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) and IIT-JEE will also be replaced by the JEE Main and JEE Advance Examinations.

CBSE have issued the notifications for the new JEE 2013 on 12 September 2012. The schedules for JEE main is on Sunday, the 5th April, 2013 and for JEE Advance it is yet to be announced. From the coming academic session 2013-14, the percentage of marks scored in the Class XII board examination will be given 40% weightage in the final selection. Earlier the selection was based wholly on the AIEEE score and a pass in Class XII Board examination. The admission to B.E./ B.Tech. courses in the prestigious institutions like NITs, IIITs, DTU and other Central Government Institutions will now be on the basis of 40% of the board examination marks plus 60% of the JEE Main.

For the students of our state, Manipur, appearing Class XII under COHSEM, whether 40% of the total out of full 100 marks of all subjects (real full mark) or 40% of the total out of 80% marks of all subjects (CCE scheme as to be tabulated in the mark sheet) be taken into account for admissions under the new JEE Main or not is not yet clear as none of the state Higher Secondary Councils or Boards in the country are implementing CCE scheme in Class XI and XII stage.

The FAQs on CCE hosted in their website www.cbse.in answered all the queries from the parents and general public regarding implementation of CCE by the chairman, CBSE, New Delhi. Question No. 26 asked whether class XI-XII will follow CCE scheme. The answer is "No, CCE has been implemented from Primary classes to the Secondary level (upto class X) in the CBSE Affiliated schools."

Another question at No. 76 asked, "For some entrance examinations, it is essential to indicate the marks obtained in Board examination as eligibility criterion. How will this be possible?" It answered, "Entrance examination eligibility criterion generally requires marks obtained in class-XII Board examination. However, if any such situation arises, the actual marks obtained in Class-X examination can also be obtained from the Board through a separate request forwarded through the Principal of the School." It is now clear that CCE should not be applied to the senior secondary level i.e. Class XI and XII.

In view of the vast syllabus and the need for hectic preparations for the national level stiff competitions for admission to the various professional courses, the students hardly find time for the large number of tests (academic) and non-scholastic tests like sports, dance, culture and other co- curricular activities that too to be conducted regularly throughout the year for which the number of teaching days are already delimited due to so many unpredictable general strikes and bandhs particularly in our state Manipur.

In one academic year, 3 Formative Assessment (FA), 1 Activity and 2 Sum-mative Assessment (SA) tests are to be conducted. It is indeed surprising that the Council is still conducting the training programmes for the teachers in the other districts of Manipur for the implementation of CCE scheme with the final examination only 4 or 5 months to go.

Moreover, the teachers and the school authority should have to be very honest and sincere with regard to the conduct and award of the marks of all the internal examinations. Simply speaking, words for me are limited to comment whether it is fair or not to award maximum marks 20/20 for all students in all internal examinations. With so many confusions in mind, I do agree with the opinions of Mr. Krishna Kumar, former Director, NCERT that CCE cannot replace the Class XII public examination.

Another critic of the CCE scheme Professor Debasis Chaterjee, Director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode said that it has become a synonym of "complete chaos in education." (Times of India, 07 September, 2012). Initiating a debate on this a very sensitive issue concerning the career of thousands of the pillars of not a distant future of Manipur, I would like to suggest that we should continue the conventional evaluation with an improved, secured and foolproof system until the majority of our counterparts in the country change before it is too late.