Apart from scholastic assessment of the students,children of the Class X would also be assessed on the basis of their values and life skills focussing on their behavioural aspects and marks obtained in it would be added to their final result of the board examinations. Being introduced for the first time by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GSHSEB) from June 2012,10 per cent weightage would be given to students skills like going beyond conditioned set up,showing creativity during class activities,showing patience during a group task for slow learners,getting along well with others and helping others in need of help or maintaining discipline and decorum during team work. Termed as School-based Comprehensive Evaluation (SCE) system,the new system tries to minimise the mechanical testing or examination of students. It focusses on periodic and regular assessment of the students,using a number of techniques,involving greater participation of teachers as well as students. In this system,70 per cent of the weightage would be given to the board examinations based on the existing pattern,while 30 per cent weightage would be given to the assessment done by the schools themselves,including 10 per cent weightage for values and life skills or co-scholastic assessment and another 20 per cent for scholastic assessments,based on students understanding of the academic curriculum. Speaking to The Indian Express,the GSHSEB chairperson R R Varsani said the new system aimed at giving relief to the students from the present rote system in which students had to memorise everything. It was considered to be very tough and caused lot of mental tension to the students during board examinations. Varsani said there were two objectives of the new system of assessment. First,it would ensure continuity in evaluation and assessment of the learning and second,it would improve the behavioural aspects of the students including values and life skills which was as necessary as scholastic achievements for success in life. The purpose of assessing co-scholastic performance of talents of the students,according to Varsani,is to encourage and promote the hidden talent of the students,which may not be scholastic in nature but may help in success of the students and his growth in non-scholastic field and settle in life better. Elaborating on it,U N Rathod,a senior official in the board,said that scholastic assessment would consist of formative and summative assessments. Under formative assessments,the teachers,without any written test,would try to assess how much a student had grasped from the subjects taught to him. For this,the entire syllabus has been divided in four parts,with each assessment to be held at an interval of 45 days. In summative assessments,which will be held on half-yearly basis and syllabus would be divided in two parts,the students would be assessed on the basis of questions and answers in a written test. According to him,another positive aspect of the new evaluation system is that the students in their board examinations would not be asked questioned from half of the syllabus that had already been covered under summative assessment by the schools themselves. According to Rathod,it would further reduce mental tension of students during examinations.
