Board exams for Class IV students in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra government has introduced board exams for fourth standard students, making parents and teachers wonder about the logic behind the move.

Without consulting the schools, the Education Department has taken this drastic step that will certainly impose a heavy burden on the nine-year-old children who could very well see their childhood ruined by the pressure of exams, Arundhati Chavan, president of the Parents-Teachers United Forum, told Gulf News.

There are around 3,000 English schools in the city of which 265 are aided by the government. Some of the schools are planning to boycott the exams next year, but others feel it is better to oppose the move, hold discussions so that the government changes its mind, and if nothing works, take the legal route.

"We have invited 120 schools as well as psychologists and social workers on Saturday at the Canossa Convent, Mahim, to hold a meeting and decide our next course of action."

As per the government resolution, children will not only have to study the fourth standard syllabus but also cram what they learnt from Std I to Std IV.

In addition to the class syllabus, they will have to learn general knowledge and certain lessons to test their intelligence quotient. They will be required to answer 50 questions that carry 100 marks, with HB pencils as computerised checking of papers will be done.

While the first of the board exams will be held in February 2003, it will be followed by school exams in March-April. "Imagine such young children having to cope up with so much pressure," she says expressing the concern of parents and teachers.

"Most of them will not be able to cope up with the burden of studies and we are worried about the psychological impact on young minds."

As school authorities and parents wonder about the logic behind this move, they can come up with only one answer: that it will raise more revenue for the government. The circular says that each student will have to pay Rs40 for the board exam and buy textbooks only from the government. Considering there are 2.4 million students of Standard IV across the state, the government could be earning a revenue of Rs2.4 billion without making any effort.

All attempts to hold meetings with the officials of the Education Department for a discussion have failed. Officials claim that the resolution is meant to improve the quality of education but school authorities say this can be brought about only by well-trained teachers and better text books.

On the contrary, there are contradictions in the text books that would confuse students, complains Chavan. "For example, the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government gave a lot of emphasis to the Maratha leader Shivaji in the history books and celebrated his birthday on a particular date which has now changed in the new text books under the Congress party's regime," says Chavan.

In the Indian educational system, students of Class 10 and Class 12 go through a highly rigorous system of board exams in which scoring high marks means admission to sought-after colleges that assure the student of a promising career.

The board exams are marked by intense preparation that forces students to attend extra coaching classes for which thousands of rupees are spent by parents. Against this background, "coaching classes have already mushroomed across the city and are charging Rs4,000 to Rs10,000."