Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Goa State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) will conduct centralised competency-based examinations for students from classes 3 to 8, beginning this October.
Over 1.20 lakh students across the state will be covered under the new system, which aims to bring greater uniformity and standardisation in student assessment. The exams will follow a common timetable, with students of classes 5 to 8 appearing from October 7, and those in classes 3 and 4 from October 9.
To prepare for the shift, more than 450 teachers from around 1,500 schools were trained with the help of an external agency, which also assisted in building a question bank. Teachers have already drafted model papers that were circulated to schools for reference.
SCERT Director Meghana Shetgaonkar said this was the first time such competency-based centralised exams were being held on a large scale in Goa. “We engaged experts to train our teachers, and now they are independently setting the final papers,” she noted.
The examinations are compulsory for all schools, and SCERT has warned that lapses will not be tolerated. Flying squads will be deployed during the exams to ensure smooth conduct and transparency.
The move marks part of the phased rollout of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in Goa, which began in 2023-24 with Baalvatika 1 and has since been expanded to include higher classes.
