Identical worksheets for different classes raise concerns among teachers

new delhi: Teachers in Delhi government schools have expressed concern over the study materials being provided to students of classes 6, 7 and 8, worried that the semi-online teaching method introduced by the administration during the pandemic might leave their students underprepared.

Millennium Post has found that worksheets for various subjects sent by the Education Department to students of classes 6,7 and 8 in all of the government's 1,030 schools for semi-online and online classes are not at par with the prescribed syllabus in these grades. At least 20 teachers from several of these schools across the city raised red flags of "vague worksheets" and a lack of clarity on the assessment method. Teachers said the worksheets sent to students of all three classes were identical.

Mathematics teacher, Lakhan, at one of the Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalayas said that in class 6, geometry and algebra are introduced which is taken a step ahead as the child progresses to the next grade. "The same worksheet for all three classes is not beneficial, it is alright for a child in class 6 because he is still learning something new but class 8 students are lagging behind," he said. Certain topics like statistics or graph plotting and geometry have been left out entirely, he added.

The semi-online method —with weekly worksheets along with follow-ups and telephonic explanations — which started on July 6 are not ideal for explaining mathematical concepts, Lakhan said. "Once a week at least full online class should be held to clarify doubts," he added.

Science teachers had similar grievances. "Last year, September 15 was half-yearly exams and this year, the students are not even close to covering one-third of the syllabus. The worksheets are not based on the syllabus, it is too generic," Science teacher Raghavendra at Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) said.

So far, 8-9 worksheets have been sent out by the education department which have not covered subjects based on the syllabus or textbooks as prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

When asked why the curriculum was not reflecting the syllabus or material from the prescribed textbooks, a senior official in the education department said, "This is not the substitute for school learning. While designing the worksheet we had to keep in mind that several students struggle to even read. We decided that a minimum involvement of the teacher should be there and the worksheet should be clear enough for the child to understand," he said.

"We are not in a position to align with the syllabus. The education department is currently debating on dividing the classes into segments — class 6-7 in one segment and class 8 in another —and making the class 8 worksheet more in tune with the syllabus," the government official added.

"The teachers and parents have this mindset that the syllabus is everything. The online teaching method has given us the option to explore new methods of teaching and learning and re-imagine the whole teaching-learning process. The class-wise mindset needs to be broken and stage-wise teaching should be introduced," the official said.

Hindi and English teachers in Delhi government schools had similar complaints, "Bal Ram Katha, Bharath Ek Khoj, and Vasant are some of the textbooks that students have but not one question in the worksheet has been based on these textbooks. How will they be assessed?," Hindi teacher Krishna at Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Mori Gate said. "They have been asked to write essays on generic topics like corona but the question paper will not be based on that. I worry for the children in class 8 who will be burdened when they progress to the next grade where the syllabus is bigger and tougher," he added.