Marks out, merit in: Mumbai educationists map out the new assessment era | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: The era of the high-stakes, “do-or-die” final exam may soon be a thing of the past. Educationists, policymakers, and parents who gathered at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre on Sunday called for a radical shift from the current marks-centric evaluation to a continuous, year-long assessment of a student’s true potential.Speaking at the 16th state-level education conference, themed “National Education Policy 2020: New Directions in Assessment,” experts warned that the obsession with scores is creating a “mental health crisis” among city students.‘Focus on Journey, Not Just Grades’Addressing the gathering, MP and Yashwantrao Chavan Centre executive president Supriya Sule emphasized that education must move beyond the narrow lens of grading. “Assessment is about understanding a student’s learning journey and overall development, not just awarding marks,” she said.Sule flagged the rising stress levels caused by cut-throat competition and parental expectations. She urged schools to adopt “ability-based” education, reminding the audience that every child learns at a different pace.Continuous Tracking via PARAKHThe keynote address by MKCL chief mentor Vivek Sawant struck a similar chord, describing conventional exams as a “terminal exercise” that kills the joy of learning. “When marks become the sole objective, education itself suffers,” Sawant noted.He highlighted national-level reforms like PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), which aims to replace the traditional report card with a multidimensional progress evaluation.The ChallengesWhile the conference celebrated the move toward critical thinking and value-oriented learning, attendees raised concerns about ground-level implementation. Key hurdles such as the digital divide which means ensuring algorithms and digital tools don’t replace the human touch in classrooms. Teacher training which is the urgent need for capacity-building to help educators transition from checking answer sheets to evaluating “learning outcomes.” And lastly critical thinking which should serve as a call for schools to prioritize logic and analysis over rote memorization.