NEP: Assessment is the key to unlock better learning

The new National Education Policy has demonstrated a clear will to move the needle away from the old world of learning. The intent is to unlock better quality learning by using assessment in all three forms - for learning, of learning and as learning. Gently layered on top of the current assessment structure is the voluntary examination offered by the National Testing Agency, which itself is a fairly new institution. A full-fledged national assessment centre, called PARAKH, is now charged with the new approach to assessment, including creating standards for the 60-odd examination boards in the country. It does so by anonymising student results to test for system performance and not individual students.This contrasts with the plan to track individual students using adaptive assessments for predictive value.This is a red flag that raises the spectre of intrusive control, worse, an extension of the old tunnel vision, and should be pulled back to retain personal agency.