Examinations in SISP! |
25th May, 2010 |
While other Indian schools have their summer vacations, "May" means examinations in our centre. It's a relief that they can take place now in our spacious, light cafeteria, rather than in the cramped space of our old building. Besides the monthly tests to monitor the progress of the students we also have exams twice a year. The aim is to assess whether the youngsters are in the correct group in terms of ability. On the basis of the examination results, the teacher-team decides who should go to a higher group, who best to remain in the same group for another 6 months, or who may be too high and would be better off in a lower range. The May exams also help decide who is eligible to move into mainstream education. The new school year in India in ordinary schools is from June 1st. Children / young people that we think are ready and motivated to go back into mainstream education must be registered in May. Every year in recent years almost a dozen children were able to reenter mainstream schools in the area. Factors other than exam results also play a role, such as the motivation of the student. We also consider whether the student can handle getting back into an environment where he / she gets less personal attention. The attitude of the parents plays an important role too. For example, if we know that a young child's parents are not preparing lunch in the mornings or not helping the child to prepare for school, and not bringing him to the bus then, in short, they are not really supportive. It is our experience that the success rate for this child will be much smaller.  Some young people don’t succeed in adapting to a more impersonal school. And the lack of birth certificates for most of our children is also a major obstacle to getting them enrolled in regular schools. It's almost a full time job for one of our teachers for several months to move from one government office to another to obtain birth certificates for our children.
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