Exam Isn’t Only About Subject Knowledge: Ashutosh Kumar, Testbook Edu Solutions, CEO

Just like any other industry, the education industry is on its knees due to the fury of the COVID-19. With the rise of online learning, and finding out ways to cope with a new set of regulations, the education industry has to come up with a strategy to pan out of the crisis with ‘education-from-home’. A dynamic panel shared their thoughts on ‘Testing and Assessment in the New Normal’.

The panellists for the fourth session were: Abhishek Ballabh, Co-Founder,  ExtraaEdge, Akshay Chaturvedi,  Founder & CEO, Leverage Ed-tech, Abhay Gupta, Co-Founder, Board Infinity, Ayush Bansal, Founder & CEO, IdreamCareer, Abhishek Patil, Founder & CEO, Oliveboard Comptech, and Ashutosh Kumar, Testbook  Edu Solutions, CEO.

The engaging panel was moderated by Aneesha Sahni, Principal, Prometheus school.

Abhishek Ballabh, Co-Founder, ExtraaEdge shared his thoughts on the examination-from-home by explaining the comparative assessment and gradual assessment. “It’s something that was long pending and is playing out in the Indian education ecosystem system now. We as stakeholders should see that opportunity.” From a secure technology scaling point of view, a lot of changes need to be adapted. “Percentile is more important than percentage”, he concluded.

“Exam isn’t only about subject knowledge, but it is also about pressure and that is what will lack when examinations are conducted from home”, said Ashutosh Kumar, Testbook Edu Solutions, CEO, shared his view on the same topic. The upcoming examinations will be blended. “It is going to do a lot of cost-saving”, he stated.

Ayush Bansal, Founder & CEO, IdreamCareer said, “This digital method of conducting exam may not be viable for every student. Let’s look at it from a holistic level as well. Not everyone has a smartphone, laptop, or good internet connection.” Online examinations can be conducted through the centres, but conducting examinations from home is just for the time being.

“If you ask me, I would advocate the idea of examination from home. However, we have to consider three very important things which are tech, tech-infrastructure, and perception of fairness amongst students. The first two things can be sorted out, the last thing is a challenge because of which I don’t see this happening in the next five years”, said Abhishek Patil, Founder &CEO, Oliveboard Comptech as he backed-up his statement with data.

Digvijay Gagneja, COO, Leverage Ed-tech shared his belief on online examination. Further on he spoke on the changes that the examination needs to bring in. He said, “How frequently are you judging the student, the frequency becomes really important. Having overall goal-based learning is something that is completely missing today”.

“I feel that teachers have more responsibilities now. If the assessments are taken into consideration, application-based learning will be more fruitful,” said Abhay Gupta, Co-Founder, Board Infinity. The design of the assessment needs to be considered to make classes and examination more fun and fruitful.