No pen-paper Test at pre-primary stage

In order to make education more enjoyable for the pre-primary kids, the Director of Elementary Education (DEE)of Tripura in an order imposed a blanket ban on any written tests from now on for the tendered young children across the state.

The DEE in her order issued on March 18, 2024, sought to secure the rights of all the 3-6-year-old kids of the state who are currently studying in different pre-primary classes and shall not be allowed to sit for pen-paper tests. However, their evaluation should be done through day-to-day activities, peer reviews, parent reviews, etc, the Director added. If any school disobeys this order, legal action will be taken against them for breach of departmental official discipline.

 Children should be encouraged to learn through playing and other means to make schooling fun and interesting so that they don't get hurt and become timid to look ahead. As the 3 to 6yr. age group is the most vulnerable period for their physical, emotional, and social-cultural development, so their development process should be nurtured on play-based learning techniques like indoor and outdoor activities, fine motor & gross motor development activities, storytelling, etc. said the order.

Kids should not be overburdened with formal examination processes with pen-paper tests. The department has already provided funds to schools for purchasing Teaching Learning Materials (TLMs), which include learning kits like color, crayons, pencils, drawing books, etc. Workbooks are also available for practicing after normal classroom activities. These things should be maximally used for continuous evaluation of students throughout the year.   

This order applies to all schools including government, Govt.-Aided, non-govt, and privately managed schools in the state. Any school violating this order will face a strict departmental procedure.

During this March of the current academic year 2023-24, many schools were reported for getting prepared with the pen-paper test examination process, that’s why the department has issued the order. Meanwhile, all the District Education Officers (DEOs) are instructed to look into the matter strictly and take every possible initiative to make the information available for all J.B, S.B, and High & H.S. schools with Pre-primary Sections.