SCERT To Identify Learning Gaps, Conducts Pilot Survey

SRINAGAR: Some 1645 students from five districts of the Kashmir division Saturday participated in a pilot survey conducted by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).

The survey is aimed at identifying the learning gaps among the students because of school closures mandated by the government in an attempt to slow down the spread of Covid-19.

Joint Director, Abid Hussain, while outlining the need to conduct the survey said that school closures carry high social and economic costs for people across communities.

He said it’s important to know the extent of impact on teaching-learning process. “The survey would provide us a feedback on the efficacy of online teaching and whether the department was successful in reaching out to a maximum number of children during the lockdown,” Abid said. “Once the gaps are identified, the department will conduct remedial measures to make good the loss.”

To make the survey efficient, the SCERT conducted several workshops and orientation programs inviting senior faculty members from the District Institutes of Education (DIET).

“In each workshop, we apprised the faculty members of all the modalities related to the survey,” Mohammad Sultan Khan, HOD, SCERT said. “We ensured all the SOPs related to the Covid-19 pandemic are strictly adhered to.”

Khan said a close coordination amongst various units of the education machinery made the piloting a success.

“It’s an exercise in a run up to our main survey which will take place shortly,” he said.

National Achievement Survey: Piloting Done In 5 Kashmir Districts

Farooq Shah

SRINAGAR: In a run up to the National Achievement Survey (NAS) scheduled to be conducted towards the end of this year, some 1700 students on 9-10th April participated in a two-day pilot survey conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). A full-fledged survey would be conducted towards the end of this year.

Students from grades 2nd , 3rd, 5th , 8th and 10th participated in the survey which was conducted in some 40 schools of Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Shopian and Kupwara districts of the Kashmir Division.

The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT-KD) provided all the necessary arrangements to make piloting a success. Earlier it had conducted at least two orientation programs wherein several DIET members were familiarised with the process.

Senior faculty members from the SCERT and DIETs were appointed as observers to oversee the smooth conduct of the survey in all the districts.

Despite the schools being temporarily closed due to Covid restrictions, the staff ensured that the required number of students, while observing all the necessary SOPs and precautions, participated in the survey.

Director School Education Kashmir, Joint Director SCERT-KD, Chief Education Officers and the Principal DIETs maintained a close coordination amongst themselves throughout the survey.

The previous NAS was conducted across the country on November 13, 2017 for classes 3, 5 and 8 in government and government aided schools. The learning levels of 2.2 million students from 1,10,000 schools across 701 districts in all 36 States/UTs were assessed.

The survey is aimed at guiding education policy, planning and implementation at national, state, district and classroom levels for improving learning levels of children and bringing about qualitative improvements in the teaching-learning process.

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