What is the "Holistic Progress Card", a new form of report card by NCERT?

Gone is the time when a student's worth in school was only determined by the marks and grades on their admit cards awarded by the teachers. As a novel move, the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has now brought forward a brand new concept of a "holistic" report card. This report card will comprise several novel aspects, like feedback from peers, parents, and teachers, along with self-evaluation of the student. This will help the students to track their holistic progress on a regular basis.

The concept of the Holistic Progress Card has been devised by a standard-setting body under the NCERT, named PARAKH. The Holistic Progress Card has been devised currently for the foundational stage comprising classes 1 to 2, the preparatory stage comprising classes 3 to 5, and the middle stage comprising classes 6 to 8. The secondary stage of the Holistic Progress Card for higher classes is in progress at present.

All the states have been asked by the NCERT to adopt the concept of Holistic Progress Cards in their schools.

What changes will the concept of Holistic Progress Cards bring?

The traditional assessment method to assess the academic growth of students has always been stressed on the year-end examinations. Also, the responsibility of assessment solely lies on the shoulders of the teachers. However, the concept of a Holistic Progress Card, in line with the recommendations of the NCFSE (National Curriculum Framework for School Education) aims at making evaluations more "learner-centric". This new concept changed the way assessments were earlier done only on the basis of marks obtained in tests and examinations and brought about new ways of assessing the excellence of students by means of evaluating the learner's skills and competencies. The aim of the new concept is to not only assess the academic performance of the students, but also evaluate their socio-emotional, cognitive, and creative abilities.

The concept of a Holistic Progress Card brings forward a descriptive type of evaluation where the students play the role of active participants. Every child will be made to evaluate not only the performance of one's own but also the performance of peers. As per the NEP 2020, the concept of a Holistic Progress Card is actually a means to build strong self-esteem and self-awareness of the students by displaying their strengths and areas of improvement.

This new concept will go beyond the academic assessment of the student and will incorporate aspects like interpersonal relationships, emotional quotient, problem-solving, self-awareness, creative abilities, and more into the evaluation process. Every student will be made to reflect on their progress the moment an activity ends. This evaluation will be done by ticking or circling certain statements such as "I was able to help my peer", or "I learned something new today".

For the middle stage, the Holistic Progress Card will also incorporate what is called an "ambition card". Through this card, the student will be able to fill in her/his ambitions for the year. The ambition card will also include an area where the student will write as to what needs to be improved. All in all, this new concept of a Holistic Progress Card will widen the ambit of what all fall under progress and will evaluate the abilities of a student on various aspects and not only on the basis of academic excellence.