As reported earlier by Arab News, the New Delhi-based board has done away with the marks-oriented system of student assessment and has replaced it with a gradation system.

Under the new system, which is known as CCE, short for Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation, a student will no longer get to know the number of marks he or she has scored in the annual examinations. They will instead be given grades. Most importantly, their promotion to the next class will not merely be based on their performance in the examinations; they will be assessed on the basis of their academic and nonacademic performance throughout the year.

The idea behind the new system is to take the stress off students. The board believes far too much stress was being laid on performing well in the examinations and the student community was learning merely by rote. Their creative aspects were not taken into consideration. So, for example, a student who is good in sports but had performed badly in the examinations had no way of getting ahead in school. The board wanted to correct this anomaly with the new system.

The board’s intentions are described as noble by a large majority of the Indian community in Saudi Arabia. However, some say the new system of evaluation is not ideal for Indians in the Gulf region. Among them is International Indian School-Jubail Chairman Jamsheed Akther.

“The new system was launched with a view to reducing exam stress. In India, it is a ‘do-or-die-don’t-ask-why’ scenario for students. Therefore, the amount of stress the child undergoes is enormous,” said Akther. “This is evident from a very high percentage of suicides among students in India.”

However, this is not the case with Saudi Arabia, he said.  “We have not had a single case of student suicide due to exam stress. In contrast, Indian schoolchildren here become serious in studies only during examination time. And so if you do away with the examination-oriented system, then it will lead to lack of seriousness among the student community.”

He said the CCE was launched to evaluate children continuously and comprehensively in scholastic and non-scholastic areas.

“This requires that the schools should have full-time counselors, properly trained artists and qualified physical education teachers. While it is easy to hire these people in India, visa restrictions here make it very difficult for the schools to hire them. So how can the students be assessed in nonscholastic areas?” he asked.

Also, there is a widespread perception among parents here in Saudi Arabia that the teaching is not up to the mark.

“Parents keep complaining that teachers here lack training and have no access to a number of workshops that are conducted in India. In such a scenario, the grades granted to students by their teachers will be viewed with suspicion. With the marking system everything is in black and white and parents have tangible proof of the performance of their child. Teachers will be under immense stress under the new system.” 

Parent Syed Mahtab said he feels the new system will allow teachers to take everything easy.

“Most of them are housewives and are related to the management committee members. This grading system will absolve them of all responsibilities. Schools are meant for competition, not for relaxation.”

The Jubail school is one among 25 CBSE-affiliated schools in the Kingdom. They have a combined student strength of 40,000.

To allay the fears of the parent community the Jubail school has invited a high-ranking CBSE official to clear misconceptions about the new system.

“CBSE Academic Director Chitralekha Gurumurthy will visit the school today (Monday) and conduct a short workshop on CCE for our teachers and parents,” said Akther. “We will share our reservations with her.”