CM signals pause to semester system in primary education
Times of India | 3 January 2025
123 Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday paused the semester system rollout in state primary schools from this academic session.
The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) had last week declared that the system would be implemented for classes I to V. CM Banerjee on Thursday dismissed semester system for primary students, saying she will not burden a child who does not understand anything about it.
During an administrative review meeting, Banerjee also asked education minister Bratya Basu why she, or the state chief secretary Manoj Pant, was not informed before this rollout was announced. The chief minister told the minister that before any policy decision is made, it should have clearance from Nabanna. She questioned, "How did it come into effect? It should not happen. I was advised that it was about to be implemented."
Basu initially responded by saying, "It was submitted to the chief secretary. The notification won't be issued without your approval." Hearing this, CM Banerjee became even more upset. She said, "If it wasn't approved, how did it get published in the paper? The message has already been sent." Basu confirmed to her that the semester system would not be implemented in primary education.
She said, "I want to reduce the burden on students. And yet, you want a semester system? These young kids are learning ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and they are being told to go through semesters. What was being followed in school, it will remain. Colleges and universities can know their problems, and they are now used to semesters. It can continue there."
Basu told media, "There has not been any official notification from govt. The board sent it to the education dept. Since this is a policy decision, the education dept forwarded it to chief secretary. The honourable CM has said she is not giving final approval at the moment. There will be no further discussion on this. It's not happening. I don't think there is any controversy needed on this matter. The board initially informed me. I said I would seek the CM's nod. The CM said no. That's it. The semester system for the eleventh and twelfth grades was implemented based on the CM's approval."
WBBPE president Goutam Pal said, "That was an announcement; no such notice has been issued for implementation. The CM has instructed not to implement it from this year, so the old system will continue."
A holistic report card has been introduced from this academic session for state-run primary schools, where students will be evaluated through formative and summative evaluation. Jodhpur Park Boys School headmaster Amit Majumdar said, "We were confused on which one among these two to be followed. Now it became clear to us."
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