COMPETENCY BASED TESTING AND INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENTS
India's overall competitiveness as well as the job prospects of individual Indian
citizens are heavily influenced by what happens in other countries. In a global
economy, improvement by national standards cannot be the only ultimate measure of
success. Instead, it is equally important to know how we are doing compared to other
countries.
Globalisation and technology are creating new opportunities and challenges in the
years ahead. The skills required to be successful in this global, technology-based
future include creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. In other words,
it will be important to not just know the answer to a problem, but also to have
the ability to think critically, creatively, and collaboratively about the problem
in order to arrive at the best solution.
MOVING FROM ROTE-BASED TO COMPETENCY LEARNING
Let us consider a very simple arithmetic question:
Most students, when faced with such a question, will find it easy to answer. This is an
example of rote-based learning. Let us look at the same question in a different way.
These kinds of non-routine questions require students to think in more critical and creative ways. They also require students to understand more deeply the concept or competency that underpins the question being posed.