Continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE): policy and practice at the national level

There is a growing agreement among the academic community, in schools and among researchers, concerning the advantages of formative assessment and the limitations of large‐scale assessment. In this paper, the school‐based assessment reform of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) popularly known in India as continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) is studied in the context of the curriculum policy outlined by the National Focus Group (NFG) on Examination Reforms and the National Curriculum Framework 2005 (NCF 2005). The necessity, importance and scope of CCE have been a matter of debate among stakeholders. This paper focuses on how curriculum planners have conceived of school‐based assessment and how it is implemented by CBSE. Though CBSE makes extensive reference to NCF 2005 in its manual, its scheme of CCE contradicts with the philosophy of that framework. At the same time, CBSE's CCE is more in alignment with the position of the NFG, which formed the basis for NCF 2005 on students’ assessment. The author considers that these conceptual differences in policy and implementation framework have created confusion. Furthermore, decentralised decision‐making on assessment, less rigid recording and reporting procedures, flexible timeframes, and continuous engagement with teachers are necessary for effective implementation of CCE.