Onam, Christmas exams are back

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government will reintroduce the Onam and Christmas examinations which were stopped by the previous Government.The decision to this effect is likely to be taken at the meeting of the Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) to be held on Monday. The decision to scrap the examinations was taken by the previous Government in line with the unified NCERT syllabus proposed by the Union Ministry of Human Resources. Schools, following the all-India syllabus, such as CBSE, also follow this pattern and conduct only mid-term examinations annually. This was to achieve the objective of reducing the emphasis on examinations in school education system.The schools, under the state syllabus, followed the same pattern and conducted mid-term examinations in November.Following the directive of Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal, CBSE had even went to the extent of making the tenth standard examinations optional.The present plan is to reintroduce the Onam and Christmas examinations after scrapping the mid-term examinations. As August is the period for Ramzan fast, the Onam examinations will be conducted only after September 12.ProtestThe pro-CPM Kerala School Teachers’ Association (KSTA) has come out against the move to reintroduce the examinations.  KSTA general secretary M Shajahan told Express that the scheme work published on July 10 and the academic calendar did not specify the dates for the Onam examinations.  They have to be tampered if the Onam examinations are scheduled. This will upset the academic activities already planned as a minimum of 10 days have to be spared for the Onam examinations, he said.He said that Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb, who had repeatedly spoken for following the NCERT syllabus, was reintroducing the examinations which was against the spirit of the unified syllabus.  Moreover, the decision to scrap a reform, which was sanctioned by the Curriculum Committee headed by the Education Minister himself, is a regressive move, he said. However, pro-Congress Government School Teachers’ Union (GSTU) has welcomed the move to reintroduce the examinations. GSTU state president J Sasi said that the students and parents wanted the reinstatement of the Onam and Chirstmas exams.