Schools want extension for submission of CAT-1 exam score

School teachers and administration across Maharashtra have raised concerns over the submission of scores for the Comprehensive Assessment Test1 CAT1 conducted between October 22 and 25 citing delays caused by electionrelated duties and other nonacademic workload on them and asking for an extension to complete the registration processThe State Council for Educational Research and Training SCERT which conducts the exam twice a year has emphasised that no additional time will be allotted after December 5 By November end 40 per cent more schools have registered their students scores while approximately 20 per cent of schools are yet to upload the resultsPresident of Maharashtra State Primary Teachers Committee Vijay Kombe and SCERT Chairman Rahul RekhawarThe educators are under increasing pressure to ensure that all data is uploaded on time to avoid disruptions to the statersquos academic evaluation system for the current yearThe CAT1 an essential part of the statersquos academic evaluations for the 202425 academic year assesses students in subjects such as First Language Mathematics and English for classes three to nineThe exam is applicable to governmentrun schools and governmentaided schools having Maharashtra state board curriculum The idea is to have uniformed parameters to understand the learning levels of students studying the state board curriculum in these classes The scheme was implemented last academic year under the centrally run programmemdashStrengthening of TeachingLearning and Results for States STARSmdashunder the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan SSA project The programme was introduced with a goal to improve the standard of education as well as elevating the level of learning outcomes among students by implementing effective teaching and learning methods It is important to know the current understanding of studentsIn response to the delays the state has appointed district coordinators to assist teachers with the registration process These coordinators selected by primary and secondary education officers are responsible for ensuring that all scores are accurately entered into the Vidya Samiksha Kendra portal For schools experiencing technical issues an alternative submission method via a Google link has been providedVoicing concerns about the pressure Vijay Kombe the president of the Maharashtra State Primary Teachers Committee said ldquoYes there has been a delay in submitting the data but no one accounts for the overwhelming workload on teachers and schoolsrdquo ldquoTeachers already face numerous nonacademic duties and on top of that the education department demands continuous data submissions Besides these administrative tasks we also have academic responsibilities rdquo he added ldquoWe acknowledge that a significant number of schools had not submitted their data but the situation is improvingrdquo said a senior official from the state education department ldquoAs of last week nearly 60 per cent of schools had not yet submitted scores but many have now started the process We were informed that data submission is picking uprdquoSpeaking with midday SCERT Chairman Rahul Rekhawar said ldquoThese exams are part of the PAT initiative under the STARS project As of December 1 72000 schools out of 85000 have managed to submit their data There is no policy for penalising schools for delays We aim to motivate them to submit the data as it benefits both the schools and their students No further extensions will be grantedrdquo