SPCSS-TN urges task force to retain board-based evaluation, scrap centralised admission tests

CHENNAI: The State Platform for Common School System–Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) has urged the High-Powered Task Force (HPTF) of the Union Government to retain the evaluation of school students with the respective State and Central boards and base undergraduate admissions on board examination marks.

In its suggestions submitted to the HPTF, the organisation said school boards were best placed to assess students as evaluation was an integral part of the curriculum and classroom learning. It recommended that admission to UG programmes be based on marks secured in respective board examinations.

The SPCSS-TN also suggested adopting the normalisation method used by the State government for professional course admissions to rank students from different boards, including for filling all-India quota seats.

The organisation questioned the need for mandatory national-level eligibility tests for undergraduate admissions, particularly for seats in State government colleges. It also raised concerns over the role of the National Testing Agency (NTA), arguing that it was not an academic body and that separating education from evaluation could affect institutional accountability.

The organisation called for strengthening government-funded educational institutions and ensuring privacy, security and a stress-free evaluation system for students. It has urged the HPTF to recommend that school evaluation remain with the respective boards and that centralised admission tests be abolished.