The significance of exams in India and the tension they often evoke is deeply ingrained in the nation’s educational culture. Assessments play a crucial role in education, not only as a tool for evaluation but also as a means to enhance learning. Researchers have made significant strides in understanding how assessments can support learning processes. However, in a densely populated society like India, exams often double as selection tools, leading to their high-stakes nature. This has turned primary and secondary school-level exams into stepping stones for competitive examinations, intensifying the pressure on students.

Indian educators are, however, on a momentous mission to bring back the joy of learning so that students reach their highest potential instead of worrying about exams. An electronics engineer with a PhD in educational assessment, Shilpi Banerjee, Faculty at the Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, is involved in designing and offering courses at the postgraduate level in various aspects of assessment to teachers, educators, education functionaries and students. She has firsthand experience of ongoing efforts to reform prevalent assessment methods. 

Rewiring assessment style 

Banerjee is also part of various technical committees set up by state and national boards to strengthen the design of board examinations and classroom assessments. She notes, ​“Assessment should not be viewed as occurring only at the end (summative); rather, it runs parallel to the entire teaching and learning process (formative)”.

Assessment should also not be seen as something that can only be carried out by teachers; instead, students and peers should be encouraged to engage in self-assessment and peer assessment.

Banerjee mentions that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and several key policy documents over the years in education have emphasised the importance of formative assessments in informing both teachers about their teaching methods and students about their learning progress. She adds, ​“The objective is to shift away from traditional rote learning and high-stakes summative assessments that often focus solely on memorisation and create stress and anxiety among students”.

The Azim Premji University works with multiple examination boards in this context. To discourage rote learning, the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) in consultation with the university thus has changed the question paper formats where previously the majority of questions were drawn from the textbooks. Aiming to overcome the limitations of a single test at the end and reduce the associated pressure upon students, KSEEB is also encouraging continuous or formative assessments by allocating marks for internal assessments especially for subjects without practical components.

Teaching by practising 

At the university, Banerjee teaches an education assessment class of around 40 students each year in the 4^th semester of the MA Education course. Here, the students gather from different geographies, subject backgrounds, work experiences, and home characteristics. While managing this variation sometimes becomes challenging, Banerjee shares how the following pedagogical approaches are applied to make the best out of this diverse student body so that they can develop a comprehensive understanding of assessment and its practical applications in schools.

• A dialogic and discussion-based pedagogy: Encouraging students to reflect on their personal experiences with assessments and identify areas for improvement in assessment practices. Here students with varied experiences contribute valuable insights to the discussions.

• Different types of formative assessments:

1. Every exam is not a written exam on a fixed date or common for all students. 
2. In-class discussions, quizzes, and informal conversations are also used to monitor students’ learning 
3. Scope for students to choose a problem when answering (allowing choice) and setting questions that are often open-ended (allowing voice) 
4. Sharing clear rubrics regarding questions to help students understand the expectations while attempting those
5. Open-book assignments with enough time and trust to create a comfortable learning environment 

• Group work: Creating student groups with some having work experiences in education, so that shared learning can occur, through meaningful and productive discussion benefitting everyone. Group readings are also planned to help all students engage with the material and absorb the discussions effectively.

• Field work: The students are exposed to field experiences of the Azim Premji Foundation in doing assessments across various states and thereby they acquire practical experiences of what may or may not work in the context of education in India. 

Equipping the teachers 

Banerjee who regularly interacts with a large number of teachers, as her students at the university, has observed that there is a significant gap in recognising the value of ongoing, low-stake assessments that provide constructive feedback during teaching. She thinks that this is a fault of the system where instead of developing subject-specific competencies, the teachers are too keen to prepare the students based on what will be asked in the exams. 

Though policies supporting new-age assessments are now in place, their implementation ultimately will depend on how well these are interpreted to the teachers who will be realising them. Azim Premji University is thus actively consulting several states in India in adapting to the new system by helping the teachers through easy-to-follow grade-appropriate and subject-specific guidelines clarifying the concepts mentioned in the policies.

Banerjee mentions, ​“Understanding the nature of subjects and the competencies required to achieve the goals of education is crucial for designing and utilising assessments that promote NEP 2020 recommended competency-based learning and this shift will require significant changes in both educator mindsets and assessment design.” 

She also notes ​“Current assessment processes in the majority of our schools assess only a limited range of abilities without accommodating individual differences in terms of student capacities and backgrounds.” Banerjee stresses that there is an urgent need for both pre-service and in-service teacher education to equip teachers. 

A shared understanding among all stakeholders about the role of assessment is key to moving toward competency-based education.

Besides this, she reminds that some teachers are already highly driven and well-informed. However, besides a significant amount of administrative duties, due to the large class sizes, they don’t have the luxury of applying the necessary pedagogical tools as required for individual classes. Such ground-level constraints also leave many teachers unable to practice good-quality assessments. However, with the clearly defined competency statements now at hand, Banerjee is confident that though not overnight, we will surely see a change.