The Hindu : National : Karnataka's trimester system: a replicable model

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 11, 2005

National

National

Karnataka's trimester system: a replicable model

By Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar

"I and my colleagues are convinced that the more pernicious burden is that of non-comprehension ... a significant fraction of children who drop out may be ... potentially superior to those who just memorise and do well in examinations, without comprehending very much."

Yashpal Committee Report 1993

Karnataka, we are told, is better off in standards of education and its administration than several upcountry States. That may well be so. It runs nearly 50,000 Government Primary Schools providing access to rural children and employs over two and a half lakh teachers; has over 95 per cent enrolment at the primary level, and six per cent dropout rate; and offers mid-day meal, free uniforms and text books to most of them. All of this is miles ahead of the national average. Commendable, but it is a pity that the core academic model has not changed in favour of enjoyable learning by children. Until now, it has not come out of the monotonous educational grind.

Why is it that children are so demonstrably joyful and appear liberated while they rush out of school at the end of the day? Why should they celebrate it? Because they have just emerged from another day of repetition, rote learning, teacher-centred delivery of `facts' and more facts, all in the name of education. Whether such learning was attractive or not, children had no option but to listen against the brooding presence of an outdated notion of stern discipline. There would be no teacher-student interface, interpretation of skills taught nor their application by students to another problem. There was no room for creativity or to make mistakes in learning since the space was filled up by time honoured pedagogy memorised reproduction.

All of this drudgery was in aid of `covering the syllabus' and preparing children to face the final examination. While the examination has been an obsession with students, teachers and education administrators, its social context has also been oppressive. Parents as well as peer groups compare and contrast performance and spur children towards intense competition. That high voltage pressure on young students is inimical to learning since it works up a siege mentality is generally not acknowledged. From the drone of the classroom to the neurosis of the examination, it is a joyless `duty' to go through.

I therefore raised a question, as Education Minister, with senior officers, school teachers and renowned Kannada writers who had also been teachers and educational leaders (Dr. U.R. Anantha Murthy, Dr. Chandrashekar Kambar, Prof. S. Settar and others): "Why couldn't Karnataka get out of this uncreative mould? Why wasn't this tried earlier? There was something which could hit anyone in the face, but did not: why should a V standard child write a two-and-a-half hour examination, the same duration for M.Sc., or M.A.? If so much was determined by an examination, surely we had to reduce its centrality in order to be able to reform the classroom transaction?

Their response was magnificent. It took 8-10 months of sustained labour by all and the reform was operational in the academic year 2004-05. The duration (from two-and-a-half hours to 90 minutes) as well as content and evaluation are altered; along with core subjects, students will now learn life skills including health education and yoga. Music and drama introduced in the school curriculum for the first time anywhere in the country will heighten children's sensitivity while providing a refreshing change from the rigours of learning science and mathematics. We decided to bring in the concept of `trimester' hitherto discussed only in the context of college education. The trimester academic year has three blocks, July-September, October-December and January-March. The school starts after summer vacation on the 1st of June and that month is utilised for recapitulation of concepts learnt earlier, and remedial teaching, if any, identified in the unit tests.

The child learns a part of six subjects in each trimester and is evaluated only for that part. The burden of memorising throughout the year is now unnecessary. The physical load of textbooks will be reduced from the coming academic year since books with an integrated approach in tune with the trimester will be prepared. One single textbook will contain the pre-planned parts of the six subjects and that book alone needs to be carried to the school.

The physical load or the school bag issue had to be viewed in conjunction with the information overload in text books identified by the Prof. Yashpal Committee (1993): "Barring exceptions our textbooks appear to have been written primarily to convey information or `facts', rather than to make children think and explore." This was a difficult task but a satisfactory beginning has been made to stem the `information invasion' while including the essential.

The evaluation in the new system will test the competency of the learner rather than the ability to memorise. In core subjects, weightages are ascribed to understanding, application and other skills that are learnt. In respect of languages, weightage is stipulated to evaluate oral as well as written communication skills. Language competency is assessed also by using non-textual matters like stories, dialogue and other forms. This appears to have helped rural students as indicated in a recent departmental survey.

Until now, children had to write four tests of 25 marks each and two examinations — mid-term and end of the year — of 100 marks each, a total of 300 marks for each subject. In the trimester, each subject will carry 150 marks in the proportion of 3:1 for written and oral respectively. The four class tests have been dispensed with. Likewise, `understanding' carries 40 per cent and `application' 20 per cent weightage. For the first time, `project work', which can include outdoor study, music and yoga have been included for evaluation. Marks or weightage against subjects will now be converted into three grades — A, B and C — thus doing away with the old categories of first class, ranks, pass and fail. Whoever gets a `C' grade will be entitled to remedial teaching followed by fresh evaluation. A child who was merely declared `failed' in the old system will now be specifically identified and enabled to do better.

A just concluded survey of students, teachers and parents of eight districts by the Directorate of State Education, Research and Training (DSERT) revealed that due to the testing of competency rather than knowledge and memory alone, the scope to express oneself better in project work and oral evaluation, students have exhibited greater interest in attending school. The three-grade system has also been well received. The survey suggests that while a child may want to work hard to obtain an `A', grading reduces the possibility of unhealthy competition and parental pressure. Children have also welcomed unit tests, which indicate areas for additional study; project work and reduced burden of memorising.

Teachers in their response have asked for continuous capacity building for modified learning-teaching and the need to optimise available teacher time for remedial teaching and project work. They have been assured that the time spent on evaluation will be far less than earlier. Parents find children talking about school "even after school hours" because of interesting project work. School Development Committees in the rural areas have noticed "children being active," and they welcome the new emphasis on value education, life skills, art and creativity.

SSLC (Class X)

The trimester scheme is all right up to class IX but how does one design and modify evaluation for class X or `SSLC' which is the only State-level `public examination' (such an examination for class VII has now been scrapped)? It was deliberately decided not to go in for full scale introduction of the scheme to SSLC but to change the model of the question paper and opt for a mix of objective type of questions (60 per cent of the paper) and the rest based on textual material. A book of questions has already been provided by the department to class IX students so that they are familiar about the Class X examination, which will be less strenuous than hitherto. It is worth mentioning that textbooks are being thoroughly revised, as in the case of other classes, with emphasis on understanding, analysis and application. A great deal more needs to be done, gaps filled and teachers assisted with training and material in the coming months. Clearly, a bold and creative journey has started. Can the HRD Ministry look at the possibility of replicating the Karnataka model?

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