Psychometric Test for School Teachers
Teaching
has been considered as the most noble profession on the planet. Teaching school
children is the noblest of them all. Aristotle once said, “Those who teach
children are more to be honoured than those who produce them.” But of late,
this profession is under immense scrutiny after the tragic incident of a murder
of a seven year old in a reputed school of Gurugram. For weeks, one could find
headlines derogating private schools as ‘Yumraj’ and ‘Hatyare’. Almost
all the private schools are painted with the same brush and are being labelled
as profit mongers with no quality checks for child security.
After
this sad incident, it seems as if every authority has waken-up from hibernation
and there has been a mad rush of issuing circulars, notifications, guidelines
and checklists for the schools, teachers and support staff. To name a few there
came ‘Guidelines for Safety of Children in Schools’ from Gurgaon Police, Notifications
from Ministry of HRD, Checklists from Directorate of Education Haryana and many
more. But CBSE tops the chart issuing a compendium of Circulars. CBSE ordered
its affiliated schools to complete psychometric evaluation of all staff –
teachers, non-teaching employees, sweepers, bus drivers and conductors in two
months time via a circular dated 28 September 2017. The circular came more like
a ‘Fatwa’ without even considering its intricacies for once. It is like
the CBSE officials are trying to save their skin by putting in postulates which
are a far cry for the executers.
Let us
understand the nature of this test in detail. Psychometric tests are a standard
and scientific method used to measure individuals' mental capabilities and
behavioural style. These tests are designed to measure candidates'
suitability for a role based on the required personality characteristics and
aptitude (or cognitive abilities). These tests measure a standardised sample of
behaviour and describe them on a numerical scale. The scale thus puts the
qualifying parameters for the candidate. The definition sounds good and can
give a feeling to implement it sine qua non. Now the question is - How
to get it implemented in 19500 affiliated schools of CBSE? Schools affiliated
to the CBSE have around ten lakh employees, spread over 26
countries, including around 1,100 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 600 Jawahar
Navodaya Vidyalayas, 2,700 schools run or aided by state governments and 14,900
private schools.
It is a huge task and a time-taking process. Evaluation will ideally
take a minimum of half an hour to one hour per person. The process may
take months for a school to complete. Moreover, you cannot have a standard test
for teachers, non-teaching employees, sweepers, bus drivers and conductors. Availability
of trained psychiatrists is a big issue in cities left aside the small towns.
Even the good hospitals of metropolitan cities in India face this crunch. The schools
located in remote areas, such as the Navodaya Vidyalayas, and villages may find
it virtually impossible to get trained psychologists.
One of the
proposals is to have an online computer based test, which will give an instant
result. This too is becoming a laughing stock as expecting the support staff to
appear for an online test is still a distant dream for our country. In all
likelihood an online examination will be in English. The language too will
become hindrance for non-teaching staff and teachers of languages other than
English. Having a pan- India level test will need immense amount of efforts for
translation of the questions in vernacular languages. Achieving this in two
months can be well thought of? Another challenge is that Psychometric
evaluation also involves the use of cards and expressions followed by a few
questions to understand a person's cognitive ability and personality trait. If
the expert feels that the person is faking the answer, the person may be
subjected to a detailed evaluation, which will further delay the process.
Renowned psychologist Mary Lawson of McGill
University, who is also an expert of the field criticised the psychometric test
by highlighting to major flaws - First,
the validity and reliability of personality tests are not universally accepted
– even among psychologists. From the tests' origins in the US military, then
their widespread use in the corporate sector (loved by human resource
departments), research has repeatedly indicated that they neither always test
what they claim to test, nor consistently produce the same results even when a
person is re-tested, perhaps just a month later. Second, using the tests is a
vote of no confidence by the Board of Studies. This is particularly worrying
given that one of the things these faculties teach is "educational
assessment and evaluation". It would seem that the wrong solution is being
applied to the wrong problem here.
Let’s
have a look at the biggest drawback of the system. To become a teacher in our
country is not an easy task. A candidate has to complete his\her education till
Bachelors or Masters which involves appearing for entrance examinations at various
University levels or qualifying the cut-offs. Thereafter possessing a Diploma
or Degree in Education is a prerequisite. These courses have portions of
psychology learning as the mandatory part of the curriculum. On completion of
the same, a candidate has to qualify Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) conducted
by CBSE or state governments. TET examination tests a candidate on
psychological questions similar to the lines of a psychometric test. These
tests have a reasonably high passing mark criterion. In order to seek a job in
a government school or the likes of a Kendriya Vidyalaya, the same candidate
has to take another entrance examination conducted by the government or the
Institution. These exams also have a significant portion of psychometric
analysis questions. Private schools have their own employment rules. After
passing the above said test, he has to undergo a panel interview, a demo
teaching session and a probation period ranging from six months to two years.
After undergoing scrutiny at so many levels, the psychometric test is making a
mockery of the education industry. Peter Russel of University of Cambridge
said, “Personality tests are at best scientifically controversial and
definitely fakeable.”
Chapter
X of the CBSE Bye-laws in its article 55 states that, ‘in case there is a
shortage of teachers in a particular subject or qualified teachers are not
available in a remote area, the Board may consider requests for exemption from
minimum qualifications under special circumstances for some years.’ This statement
is in itself contradictory to give any test to a teacher. This clearly shows
the haste in which CBSE issues such guidelines before studying its own
constitution. Another challenge to the said exam is – Who will bear the
examination cost? Is it the teachers, the School Management, the Board or the
Government? The obvious answer is – the onus will lie on the teachers as they
are the ones who are the most vulnerable of the lot. Initial reports suggest
that the cost of the test will be around five thousand rupees. In areas where a
teacher’s salary starts from the same number and a forth class employee earns a
salary around thousand bucks and more, this cost will definitely burn a hole in
their pockets.
Schools
have teachers with experience of more than two decades who have put their
entire life for the pious nation building exercise. Putting them to
psychometric test is like asking a doctor with 20 years of practicing
expertise, to undergo a test in order to qualify fit for the profession. And if
by any chance he cannot get the ‘desirable’ score, label him unfit for the
profession. What a mockery our policy makers have made of this noble
profession. Believe it; no teacher wants even an iota of sadness for their
students. After parents, it is only the teacher who becomes equally happy with
a child’s success.
If there
has to be a psychometric test for professions, it has to be for all. Let there
be a fair play. Let’s have it across professions. Wouldn't it be wonderful if
we could have similar tests for politicians?
Jagdeep S. More, Educationalist
