The latest notification by the Nagaland Board of School Education regarding introduction of two levels of Mathematics question papers for HSLC Examinations from 2024 is an interesting development, one that was surprising but was a long-felt need.
This new system which is being introduced in accordance with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is to allow students to learn the subject at their own pace as well as to reduce pressure on examination. More such new introductions are expected in the coming days, or years, as NEP 2020 is implemented.
The introduction of standard level or Mathematics B and higher level or Mathematics A is a welcome development because not all children are the same and, therefore, one set of examinations for all students is pointless, a practice we have been following all these years pointlessly.
Perhaps, a lot of the social issues we are confronted with today can be attributed to this one-size-fits-all kind of examination. Introducing two levels of Mathematics may be regarded as a form of differentiated instruction, or at least a step towards it, where instruction is tailored to meet individual needs because not all students have the same learning ability. Apart from the Board, the teachers and the society at large have to realize that not all children are the same.
Education should be about putting children first, and treating them all the same is definitely not putting ‘children first’ by any means. Of course, children need to be assessed but expecting the same result from all of them by undergoing the same rigid examination is ludicrous. Simply put, all children are not the same and there will be no true differentiation unless assessments are differentiated as well.
With all that being said, as the National Education Policy 2020 which had received more praise than criticism ever since its unveiling in 2021 slowly gets implemented across the country, hopes are high that we will successfully create students who are future-ready and well-prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, provided that there is a strategic implementation of each facet of the policy. Gone are the days when we used to assess a child’s learning only by marks and grades.