india

Updated: Jan 26, 2018 17:27 IST

Smileys will replace marks in the report cards of Class 1 and 2 students in Madhya Pradesh government schools from the next academic session.

The decision was taken by the Rajya Siksha Kendra that decides on curriculum for primary schools in the state, to make learning more interesting and less stressful, and directives have been issued to all district education officers and district coordinators of the Kendra, said its director Lokesh Jatav said.

“Nowadays parents start pressuring their kids for good marks from Class 1. So we have decided that the evaluations class 1 and 2 students will be done on the basis of exercise books and an oral test and no marks would be given,” Jatav said.

Depending how they do in the oral test, students who have grasped the subject well will be given three smileys in their report card, Jatav said.

If the student is still in the learning stage, it will be two smileys. If the student needs to put in more effort, the progress card will carry a single smiley. Achievements in social and personal traits will also be recorded in the progress card of class 1 and 2 students through smileys. All districts have been told to declare the results of the annual evaluation of students in classes 1 to 8 by April 30.

“Marks are absolute figures and often causes stress to parents who compare the marks their kid got with that of others. The smileys are less stressful as many students will get the same number of smileys. At the same time students who get only one smiley are being told in a gentle way that they need to buck up,” said Jatav.

The recommendation for the evaluation of students in the national curriculum framework says that the process of learning-teaching should be in a fear-free environment. Provision for comprehensive and continuous evaluation has been made in the Right to Education Act 2009.