School-based assessment scheme for first five foundation stages of students: JKSCERT

SRINAGAR — The Jammu and Kashmir State Council of Educational Research and Training (JKSCERT) has said that there shall be a School Based Assessment (SBA) scheme for the first five foundation stages of the students.

It also said that SBA shall be conducted by respective Head of Schools (HoS) wherein all children are expected to have achieved subject-specific learning outcomes or competencies and foundational reading skills as per NIPUN Bharat guidelines.

The official documents, available with the news agency KNO, state that at the foundational stage of five years, the SBA shall be conducted by the respective HoS.

At Anganwadi or pre-school or Balvatika which comprises three years, students shall recognize letters and corresponding sounds. “They shall read simple words consisting of at least two to three alphabets and they shall also recognize and read numerals up to 10.”

According to the JKSCERT, the students shall be able to arrange numbers, objects, shapes and occurrences of events in a sequence.

Likewise, for Grade 1st which comprises a year, students shall be able to read small sentences consisting of at least 4-5 simple words in an age-appropriate unknown text. “They shall also be able to read and write numbers up to 9 and perform simple addition and subtraction,” it reads.

Similarly, in one year of Grade 2nd, the students shall be able to read with meaning 45-60 words per minute and write numbers up to 999. “They shall be able to subtract numbers up to 99.”

About the assessment at the foundational stage, JKSCERT said it is vital to track children’s progress in a continuous and comprehensive manner using multiple techniques of assessment.

“Assessment during the foundational learning can be broadly categorized into two major areas, namely School Based Assessment (SBA) at the foundational stage should be stress-free and largely through qualitative observation based on the performance of the child in a multitude of experiences and activities and tools and techniques should be used as envisaged in exemplars prescribed by NCERT and SCERT in SBA document,” it reads.

It also states that assessment at the foundational stage aims at early identification of learning gaps at each foundational stage including children with special needs so that there can be possibilities of early intervention through referral to specialists.

“Teachers are required to use different techniques to assess the children, identifying the child’s strengths, needs, interests and preferences. Besides, the teachers are required to check the potentiate child’s performance and scaffold it through interventions,” JKSCERT said.