Education ministry decides to evaluate and assign grades to students for work done at home

KATHMANDU, Jan 2: The Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology has decided to evaluate and assign grades for work done by students at home.

According to Education Minister Bidya Bhattarai, the responsibility of developing the evaluation method has been given to the Curriculum Development Center. "The Curriculum Development Center will create the evaluation method. We have instructed them to bring a proposal for the method within 15 days after consulting with experts," Minister Bhattarai said.

The ministry is planning to include work done at home in the evaluation, stating that assessment should not be based solely on the written exams. "Evaluation of students should be done in a multi-dimensional way. Currently, we are assessing based on how much they write. Therefore, we have decided to change the method of internal evaluation," she said.

She mentioned that the evaluation method would be developed based on expert opinions and suggestions, ensuring that no issues arise later.

The Director General of the Curriculum Development Center, Ima Narayan Shrestha, stated that the evaluation method would be developed soon. "We will create the method and implement it quickly," he said. He mentioned that they plan to implement the new evaluation method starting from the 2082 BS academic year. The ministry is planning to include good practices in the curriculum to honor labor and skills.

“Students currently believe that learning is limited to textbooks,” said Minister Bhattarai. “We are now working to include good aspects of society in the curriculum to honor labor and skills. Students’ behavior at home, how much they help their parents, and how they act should also be considered. If they assist their parents in the fields, that should be reflected in their evaluation.”

Students will receive grades for activities such as plowing fields, cutting grass, cooking meals, looking after siblings, shopping in the market, sewing clothes, or working in a blacksmith’s forge.

If students are learning life skills at home, such as sewing clothes or working in a forge, these will also be included in their internal evaluation.

For grades 4 to 8, the examination consists of 50 marks for internal assessment and 50 marks for external exams. For grades 9 to 12, 25 marks are allocated for internal assessment and 75 marks for external exams. A portion of the internal assessment marks will now be reserved for evaluating household activities.