It is a given that internal assessments amid the Covid crisis are here to stay, which makes it mandatory for students to be consistent in their performance.
Last-minute cramming by burning the proverbial midnight oil may no longer work for even the most academically bright students who may pin all their hopes on the Board exams per se to better their performance.

A look at the assessment criteria of class X and XII Boards may well explain this point.
Even since the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) released its ‘objective criterion’ following the cancellation of class X board examinations, the students had to mentally prepare themselves for an assessment which is largely drawn on evaluation conducted throughout the course of the year.
Broadly, the basic break-up of marks provided by the board comprised 20 marks for Internal Assessment which has already been conducted by most schools with marks already uploaded, 10 marks for Periodic/Unit Test, 30 for Half Yearly/Mid-Term Examinations, and 40 marks for Pre-Board Examinations.

Congratulations!You have successfully cast your voteLogin to view resultPost the cancellation of class XII exams, the Board created a tabulation policy in which marks scored by students in their class XII, XI and X were considered in the ratio of 40:30:30.
respectively.
“We will now be extending the assessment policy of 2021 and creating an assessment policy for 2022 keeping the pandemic in view,” says Sanyam Bharadwaj, controller of Examination, CBSE, while talking to Education Times.
“This year, we are utilising the assessment of other classes for evaluating the students, but in 2022, we would develop the internal assessment of class X and XII in such a manner that it would be uniform across the nation, transparent and logical so that we can utilise the same for the declaration of the results.
From time to time, the Board will receive the performance of the students, the details of which can be utilised for result declaration in case of any pandemic-like challenges, without using the assessment of other classes.
We are planning to strengthen the importance of Unit Tests, Half Yearly/Mid-Term and pre-board examinations,” Bharadwaj says.
Considering the premium placed on internal assessments, students need to be serious right from the start since their performance in each and every test might be utilised in the final assessments, he adds.
The CBSE, for its part, will be judiciously dividing the syllabus so that students do not feel stressed or overburdened.
“Schools are being given greater autonomy in the sphere of internal assessments and are competent enough to ensure quality learning and fairness in the system.”
Commenting on the Board’s internal assessment policy, former principal, DPS RK Puram, Shyama Chona says, “The pandemic has done for us what we could not achieve in the last over 70 years since Independence.
The 3 hours (Board) examination does not determine the intellectual capabilities, values and levels of the student; he/she may not even be in the best of mental and physical health on that particular day.
That is where internal and cumulative assessments may be useful in evaluating the students.
All that they need to do is regularly attend classes and be attentive.
But are all CBSE schools consistently doing a good job of assessing the students periodically, and do they have the records of students’ past performances which the latter can access? Ultimately, we have to trust the schools in the hope that they know their students and are able to give a confident picture of their performance.
If it works, this formula should become the new normal of education,” she adds.
Shilpika Dass, special projects incharge and PGT English, Lotus Valley International School, Noida, is also in favour of the CBSE’s decision “to accord more strategic value to the internal assessment of students in their overall evaluation, though multiple concerns have been raised on issues such as the greater potential for students to resort to unfair means, the lack of seriousness students bring to modular tests and assignments, as well as internal assessment not being reflective of a student’s true capability.
However, giving weightage to internal assessment is not only fair and the most viable option, but also necessary to ensure students study consistently and with focus”, she says.
Internal assessments, according to Das, comprise not just modular tests, but also projects, portfolios and assignments undertaken by the students during the course of the term.
“It is in these projects that we see the students’ application of knowledge rather than the mere regurgitation of facts.
In fact, project and problem-based learning are critical for the development of a student’s cognitive and meta-cognitive abilities,” she adds, emphasising the need for evolving the question patterns and encouraging multiple modalities, such as open-book tests as well as collaborative projects to enhance students’ scholastic and co-scholastic competencies.