Kerala: CBSE compromises on extracurricular activities

Kozhikode:  This year the CBSE failed to conduct annual events like science exhibition, heritage quiz, CBSE maths Olympiad and CTET. At long last there are indications that science exhibition will be held in January. DC takes a look at what ails CBSE and how it impacts co-curricular activities especially after the demolition of CCE

The CBSE  has lagged in  conducting  extracurricular activities  like science exhibition, heritage quiz and maths Olympiad for students on time this year. The schools are finding it difficult to conduct the  activities effectively especially due to the shift from continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) pattern to the earlier pattern of assessment. This has brought back the pressure on schools as well as the students.

“The shift in the evaluation system from the child-centred CCE  to the conventional system has caused severe  trauma to the students and the public,”  said Mr  M. Abdul Nazar, general secretary, All-India Private Schools and Child Welfare Association, Kerala State Committee. The authorities must plan an  awareness programme to reduce their tension. This year the students of  standard X were  afraid of participating in co-curricular activities which  resulted a setback in school-level   as well as inter-school activities conducted by CBSE and Sahodaya School Complexes, he said.

The students are struggling to score marks rather than involving in co-curricular activities. The cut-throat competition in the academic sphere will affect the career growth of children and so the CBSE must focus on energizing the school environment by introducing more soft skill development programmes.  Unfortunately,  the board is now winding up the existing activities, he  added.  

Education expert Ramachandran Nambiar said, “extracurricular activities have good impact on the personality development  of students, in shaping up their behaviour and attitudes apart from helping them get better grades in  examinations. It is only through such activities  that their competitive spirit  will grow.  Extracurricular activities  help develop  leadership qualities in the students, he said.

Referring to a study conducted  by the U.S. department of education on extracurricular activities, Mr Ramachandran said, “students pursuing extracurricular activities get higher grades than the rest. They  get better grades in  studies when they participate in co-curricular activities irrespective of the backgrounds from which they come, he added. “The CBSE  ignored  extracurricular activities after it abolished the CCE pattern and brought back the earlier pattern of assessment with emphasis on pen-paper tests,”  said one of the faculty members of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kozhikode.

A uniform system of assessment and examination has replaced CCE for classes 6 to 9. Under CCE, students were assessed on two term-end ‘summative assessments’ and four ‘formative assessments’ (two  in each term), where 60 per cent of the assessment was pen-paper tests  and  40 per cent formative assessment during the year was continuous evaluation by teachers based on various activities. Hence,  academic work  has  affected  the smooth conduct of  extracurricular activities. The CBSE has only few activities charted beyond the academics, which has also been compromised, he added. CBSE Public Relations Officer Rama Sharma refuted the charge that the  activities were not conducted on time. The pending programmes will be held soon and there will be no compromise on such activities, she added.