Will the state's Std X aptitude test be half-baked?

The ambitious plan of the Maharashtra governmentrsquos Education Department to outsource aptitude tests for Std X students of the state board has sparked a controversy Not even two months remain for the first ever such test and the state has now roped in NGOs and private companies to conduct the test via CSR Corporate Social Responsibility funding The schools not covered by these NGOs will have the aptitude test conducted by the state governmentEducation Minister Vinod Tawde says that the state will appoint counsellors at the district level for personal career counselling for students File picThe NGOs participating in the initiative already work in career counselling with specific schools While NGOs will conduct a written test followed by a detailed oneonone interview by professional career counsellors the state mdash with its onesizefitsall approach mdash is going to limit itself to an objective test which experts have already criticised for its qualityA notice issued by Education Department makes it clear that the state is outsourcing the task of conducting the test to different organisations Nitin Kulkarni director of Career Analysis and Profiling Pvt Ltd mdash one of the private parties participating in the endeavour mdash told midday ldquoWe will be looking after a certain part of Maharashtra where we are already working with schools for the same purposerdquoKetan Deshpande founderchairperson of the Friends Union for Energising Lives FUEL another NGO participant said ldquoWe already have a module designed as we are conducting these tests for a few schools We are certainly taking it forward to more schools as per our abilities but one agency cannot conduct this test at a mass levelrdquoMumbai Thane Nashik Sangli Satara Kolhapur Ratnagiri Sindhudurg Raigad and Mahad are among the regions where NGOs will be participating But it is unclear as to which schools will be covered by NGOs and which by the government Further both the NGOs and the government have completely different ways of conducting the test A principal from an Andheri west school who did not wish to be named said ldquoEither all students should appear for the statersquos test or all should go through NGOs There is no uniformity and hence one will never know how dependable the results arerdquo Moreover many feel that a comparison between the two processes is bound to happen especially if the NGOs adopt a more professional approachThe Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education will conduct the test for the schools not covered by NGOs This test is going to be conducted online by the state board in February Gangadhar Mamhane chairperson of the state board told midday ldquoThe test is ready and will be conducted at schools in most parts of the state by us in February The objective test results will then be added to the SSC marksheet of studentsrdquoMinister speakWhile the board chief did not mention a plan to offer personal career counselling state Education Minister Vinod Tawde insisted that there would be no unfair treatment as the state is going to appoint counsellors at the district level for career counselling for studentsTawde said ldquoWe are bringing this test when there was nothing offered at all The mass implementation of this will create awareness among parents about not pressurising children choosing their career paths If we get support from outside where even the financial aspect is taken care of why shouldnrsquot we opt for itrdquoHe added ldquoCurrently around five lakh students will appear for tests conducted by NGOs The state government will conduct the test for over 10 lakh studentsrdquo