School Based Academic Policy

Curriculum Implementation Policy

The school strongly believes that the education we provide to our children should be relevant to the need of the children and society. The concept, knowledge, information, skills and values that students’ acquire should be relevant to the need of the society and accordingly teachers would take challenges to curriculum and instructional changes. In order to bring such curriculum reforms, all teachers would be empowered to continuously review and reframe the curriculum to suit the need of the students and society. Therefore, the school aims to achieve a whole range of essential learning and support program geared towards providing wholesome development of a child. This includes curriculum and co-curricular activities like literary, culture, games and sports, gardening, scouting, clubs and student support services, guidance and health care. These activities are objectively planned, implemented, monitored and assessed for impact and improvement for further better future program.

The School curriculum (Middle Secondary School level) consist the following subjects:

Classes IX and X

• Dzongkha (I & II)
• English (Language & Literature)
• Mathematics
• Science (Physics, Biology and Chemistry)
• History & Geography (HCG)
• Economics/ IT/Agriculture/Environmental Science

Classes VII and VIII

• Dzongkha
• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• History
• Geography
• ICT

Classes IV – VI

• Dzongkha
• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies
• ICT
• HPE
• Art Education (Class IV only)

Classes PP – III

• Dzongkha
• English
• Mathematics
• HPE
• Art Education

The school encompasses and follows a clear guideline policy of implementing the curriculum    in the following areas:

1. Planning
2. Implementation
3. Monitoring
4. Assessment
5. Promotion

Planning

• Long Term Educational Goal: The long term goals are to be developed jointly by all the teachers, teaching specific subject from classes PP to X. All the teachers teaching various subjects develop the long term goals in their subjects and present to the general staff meeting for consensus. The agreed broad objectives for each of the subject are to be documented and shared with all the teaching staff and revised annually to focus their teaching toward achieving these goals.
• Short Term Educational Objectives: The school has a set curriculum objectives to achieve by the end of the year by the teachers in their own subject in line with the educational goals and objectives are written on the daily lesson plan. Every teacher is required to follow yearly plan, block plan, week plan and daily lesson plan, based on the objectives by allotting topics against time, days, keeping in view of the time of examination.
• Yearly Plans: Prepare the yearly/ term plan/ block plans based on the objectives, topics and time allotted for each topic/ subject. All teachers must submit a copy of yearly plan to the respective HoD and the HoD in turn must submit a copy to the academic head.
• Daily lesson planning: Teachers must plan and prepare daily lesson plans to ensure adequate preparation for effective and systematic teaching. The lesson plans should have all necessary components such as values, lesson objectives, skills, strategies, Cooperative Learning Structures, Active Learning Strategies, lesson development, activities, follow up and closure. Every teacher must submit the week’s lesson plan to the concerned HoD in soft or in hard copy. The HoDs must submit member’s lesson plan records to the management at the end of every Term. In a day every teacher must prepare two detailed lesson plans and short notes for the rest of the subjects.

Implementation

1. Teaching and classroom management:

• Class size: The ideal class size should be 1: 25 for higher and 1:30 for lower level if feasible to enable student’s participation and to ensure greater attention to an individual child.
• Subject allocation: The subject and the class allocation should be done as per the teaching competency and subject specialization of a teacher as far as possible.
• Teaching period: Each teacher must have a minimum of 22 hours of teaching periods in a week as per the National Education Policy. Teachers need to be provided with at least 2 free periods in day to increase their efficiency in planning and correction works.

2. Teaching Learning Materials:

The school has a policy on preparing appropriate teaching-learning materials, using them in teaching, judiciously and if the aids are durable they are stored for future resources. This saves not only time, energy and economy of the school but helps those teachers who are not capable of designing good materials. It is also sustainable and helps building up resources for the school.  The school should procure and make the teaching learning materials available. Teachers must make the best use of available resources provided by the school.                                                                             

3. Classroom Management:

An effective classroom managerial skill is central to teaching and learning. It should be sustained all throughout the period of teaching learning with sense of fairness.

• Create conducive learning atmosphere: Enriching class discussion through students’ engagement and participation. Motivating students by adopting variety of methods/strategies and study skills to ensure effective learning.
• Classroom discipline: Teachers are accountable for general discipline, student’s wellbeing during the entire session/period. Act as a role model for the students, imparting good values such as punctuality, good manners, honesty etc.

 Monitoring

To promote transparency, accountability and efficiency every teacher shall be grouped into subject department under a Head of Department (HoD). The entire HoD’s will be under a trained focal person who is usually a Principal/Vice Principal or a School lead teacher.

Assessment

The school needs to have a well defined system of assessment and its institution for fair and transparent appraisal to help students improve. The assessment must be continuous process as teachers teach; especially the formative and summative are based on class work, home work and project work, which every teacher criteria developed by the school. 

Continuous assessment

The Class Work Policy

Rationale:

Class work is planned learning activity, related to the lesson taught and is carried out by the students in the classroom during the teaching period under the supervision and guidance of the teacher.

Some example of class work may be group discussion, reading writing, drawing, problem solving in groups and individually and so on.

Objectives:

The Class work assigned to students will be able to:

• Encourage independent and group work habits in students.
• Facilitate the effectiveness of the teaching learning process.
• Get opportunity to observe and identify students who will need further help.
• Provide opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learnt in the lesson.
• Reinforce the concept and skills taught.
• Find out for the teachers if the lesson taught has been effective.
• Ease the burden of homework on students.

 Strategies:

• Class work to be given with clear instructions.
• Any class work should be given to the maximum of fifteen minutes.
• The class work should be assessed and enter the marks into the assessment books for twice a month.
• The assessment criteria may differ from topics and subjects.
• The assessment criteria with marks should be reflected on children’s notebooks.
• Give class work at the completion of lesson’s for each topic.
• Identify the major problems of the students.
• Supervise, guide, interact and provide students with feedbacks.
• Encourage the effort made by the students.

School Home Work Policy

Rationale:

Home work is a learning task that teachers assign to students to do after school hours. It is an extension of the class work that students should complete on their own with minimum guidance from the teacher.

Objectives:

• Find out how much lessons the students have understood.
• Find out the effectiveness of his/her teaching.
• Find out the progress of the students.
• Regularly give feedback to students.

Home work policy:

• Homework should be definite, clear and interesting; it should not be assigned for name shake.
• Homework should related to the class work, exercise or lesson already done in the class, in case of general homework, teacher has to provide all the requisite information or specify the book or the pages to be read.
• The homework must be fruitful and within the reach of the children.
• The homework should not aim at the passing of the examinations.
• In order to avoid cumbersome, homework should be assigned as per the schedule developed by the school / The concerned class teacher in consultation with subject teacher can prepare the home work schedule and display it in their respective class
• Homework assigned should be properly assessed and feedback provided accordingly.
• Subject must display the assessment criteria in the class
• Homework should be marked as per the criteria developed by the school.
• Teacher must do follow up on the feedbacks

Example of home work schedule for class IX – X is shown below:   

However the concerned subject teacher can make an internal adjustment with the other subject teachers if there are more number of questions to be given as home work or  no home work to be given on that day.

School Project Work Policy

Rationale:

A project work in school means an extended learning activity undertaken by students related to a topic in the syllabus involving the students in processes such as information gathering, interpreting and presenting the information in a logical sequence and written form. The project work can be undertaken by the students individually or in groups.

Objectives:

The project work helps student to:

• Develop investigative skills.
• Understand social and natural environment.
• Develop confidence and ability independent learning.
• Develop skills of planning, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, organization and recording of information.
• Gain more knowledge and information that is beyond the classroom teaching.
• Inculcate the sense of pride in their work accomplishment.
• Develop the skills of oral interaction and team spirit.
• Develop the skills of written communication.

Strategies:

• Project work is a part of assessment and encourages students on the work of research and independent learning.
• Projects must be assigned according to the demand of the syllabus and subject requirement.
• A standard marking criteria must be developed before hand and should inform the students on what basis they are being assessed.
• Teachers must guide students to encourage them to carry out the action research.
• The teacher should have individual work plan for any project work.
• Each project work should require four weeks for teachers and students.
• The assessment criteria should be flexible and they may differ from subjects.

Example of marking criteria is given below:

Summative assessment

Examinations are conducted based on the criteria or skills which teachers intend to test. The teachers are expected to set the quality test paper blue on the blue print and moderation done accordingly.

The Unit Test Policy

Rationale:

Unit test is a summative assessment conducted to trace both student’s and the teacher’s achievement.  It assumes the strength and weakness of the individual student. It provides an opportunity for both student and the teacher, to monitor and analyze their teaching and learning process. It further creates a room for future improvement through student’s performance analysis. So it plays a fundamental role in enhancing academic performance as a whole.

Objectives:

• To test the ability of the student.
• To keep update of the syllabus / topics taught in the class.
• To check the understanding of the teaching and learning.
• Assess the knowledge acquired by the student.
• To keep track of children’s learning.
• To fulfil the aims of GNH by producing quality and intellectual generations through summative assessment.

Strategies:

• Conduct the unit test as per the plan prepared by concern subject teacher.
• Assess the unit test paper based on the developed marking criteria
• Subject teachers must maintain the records.
• Make students re-write the answers correctly
• Identify the weaker students and conducting remedial classes.
• The schedule for the remedial class would be prepared by the
• Academic Head/Timetable Committee in consultation with the subject teachers.
• The total number of students attending the remedial class
• Should not exceed to 50% of the total class strength.
• Group counseling for the weaker students to be conducted by school counselor.

Examination Policy

Objectives:

• To inculcate a sense of fair and just within the students
• To find out the ability of the individual students through fair means
• To evaluate the achievement of the teacher
• Timely preparation of the question paper in line with BLUE PRI

Strategies:

• Individual teacher will prepare the question paper as per the current norms
• Question paper for the entire subject should be submitted to the coordinator/exam secretary exactly a week ahead along with the text blue print.
• Hall arrangement for the exam will be done 2 days ahead with proper allocation and pasting of children’s number on the desk.
• The exam coordinator will plan and prepare the rules and regulations which shall be read out to the students well in advance and paste it on the notice board.

Monitoring:

• Invigilators are equally responsible in conducting the exam through fair means.
• The invigilators should monitor every test paper, whether the students have attempted all the questions.
• The invigilators will also ensure that all the students answer scripts are on their respective desks.
• The exam coordinator will then collect the test paper as per the strength of the student in that particular class and sign in the test paper issue register.
• The moderation of questions shall be done in round table basis before it can be made into multiple copies.
• The invigilator shall be responsible for any missing answer scripts from the exam hall.
• No additional time will be given upon the allotted time.
• The concerned subject teacher will be responsible for any errors and leakage of question papers.
• All the marks will be entered in the respective marking sheet correctly signed by the markers.
• The late comers will not be given extra time.
• HoDs must ensure that the question papers are moderated.

Evaluation:

• Checking of answer sheets shall be done in a round table basis along with the Department Head.
• Exam coordinator will hand over the test paper to the concern subject teacher
• Subject teacher will then check and prepare the consolidate mark sheet for submission to the DEO
• Class teacher will then check and do the necessary compilation of the grand marks and put in the progress report forms without over writing.                            
• The concern evaluators shall be responsible for any leakage of the marks before the result declaration.
• The tabulators should be responsible for the incorrect calculation of marks in the marking sheet.
• Concern subject teacher must recheck their respective paper after group evaluation.
• Answer papers will be given to students for re-checking only after completion of all the papers.

Students Promotion

• The promotion meeting will be conducted based on the above criteria and the performance of students
• Preparing results of students based on the promotion criteria and promoting children to the next higher class
• Submission of home examination result/report to the Dzongkhag Education Office.

Promotion Criteria for class IX

1. The pass mark is 40% for all the subjects.
2. The pass mark in English and Dzongkha (I and II combined) is compulsory.
3. Must pass in at least THREE of the following subjects:

• Science (Biology, Physics and Chemistry)
• HCG (History and Geography)
• Mathematics
• Economics/IT/Agriculture/Environmental Science.

Promotion Criteria for Class VII and VIII

1. The pass mark is 40% for all the subjects.
2. Compulsory to pass in English, Dzongkha and Mathematics
3. Must pass in at least TWO of the following subjects :

• Science
• History                                           
• Geography

Promotion Criteria for class IV – VI

1. The pass mark is 40% for all the subjects.
2. Compulsory to pass in English, Dzongkha and Mathematics
3. Must pass in at least ONE of the following subjects :

• Science
• Social studies

Promotion Criteria for class PP – III

1. The pass mark is 40% for all the subjects.
2. Compulsory to pass in all the subjects

• English
• Dzongkha
• Mathematics