'Not A Board Examination', CISCE Clarifies Proposed Assessment For ICSE Class 5, 8

New Delhi: In a clarification published regarding the CISCE Curriculum and the proposed assessment for Class 5 and 8, the council which conducts ICSE and ISC board exams said the proposed changes do not mean "Board" examination. It was reported earlier that the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) will introduce a new assessment for children of class five and eight students in its curriculum to enable them to think creatively.

In its latest clarification, CISCE has said the Council has designed and developed a broad-based Curriculum for Preschool to Class 8, to facilitate an upward mobility in the teaching and learning process and to lead children in a graded and progressive manner to derive full benefit of the ICSE and ISC syllabi.

With the introduction of the CISCE curriculum, the council has said, it becomes imperative to ensure that progression of students against the defined learning outcomes is carefully monitored. The Council plans to do this through an assessment which will be conducted at the levels of Class 5 and Class 8 in four subjects - English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. 

This assessment, the statement said, is envisaged to be 'a non-threatening diagnostic assessment unrelated to classroom academic scores', hence, no prior preparation on the part of the students is required. 

"It is not a Board Examination," said the statement while adding, the assessment would be student-oriented and will be designed to assess the student's understanding of concepts based on the newly introduced curriculum. 

 "The curriculum is child centered and encourages an integrated approach, where children see linkages across various curricular areas and are able to relate classroom learning to real life situations," said the statement from Gerry Arathoon, Chief Executive and Secratary of CISCE.

A copy of the curriculum has already been sent to all Council affiliated schools and is also available on the Council's website. 

To facilitate proper implementation of the curriculum, the Council has already started the process of conducting workshops for Master Trainers, who will in turn train teachers at the regional level, thereby ensuring that affiliated schools are given an opportunity to benefit from this training and to effectively transact the curriculum in the classroom.

The Council is currently discussing the modalities of implementation of the process of assessment. 

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