Assessment Practices at Secondary School Level in Sikkim: Perception of Stakeholders and Identification of Policy Gaps

The present study uses Mixed method research to investigate the various assessment practices at secondary school level alongside the stakeholders? perception within the rather poorly investigated Indian state-Sikkim?s educational system. Through questionnaire, interview, FGD, field verification schedule (and observation), this study draws upon not only the perceptions of 120 teachers, 200 students and 40 SMDC members, but also the practices and problems associated with assessment practices of ten secondary schools from Forward and ten secondary schools from Backward Districts of the state. The quantitative data were analysed using both the descriptive and inferential statistics and the qualitative section of analysis addresses the themes that emerged from respondents? responses that relate to the research questions and the assumptions that were made at the beginning of the study. The findings indicate that although stakeholders had a better recognition of various domains, purposes and use of assessment; there were certain level of dissimilarities in their perception of assessment practices. Moreover, it was revealed that the exposure of the school heads, teachers and other stakeholders by means of training, workshops and adequate education had a great deal of impact on their practices. Major problems or challenges associated with the assessment practices were; time management problems in relation to a vast syllabus, lack of adequate training in assessment and difficulty in maintaining a balance between policy guidelines and classroom practices due to lack of proper assessment tools. Implications of the study are discussed and consequently, recommendations for the continuous training and workshops of stakeholders are made.