Govt backs scrapping Std X board exam

Minister Says If Students Study Up To Std XII In Same School, There’s No Need For External SSC Assessment

Prafulla Marpakwar | TNN

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has expressed support for Union human resources development minister Kapil Sibal’s proposal to scrap Std X board exams, saying there is no need for constant evaluation of students before they reach Std XII. However, state minister of higher, technical and medical education, Rajesh Tope, said, “I feel that before taking a final decision, there should be a wider debate on the reforms in education.’’

Sibal and others on Thursday welcomed the reforms proposed by Sibal. “The concept is c e r t a i n ly revolutionary. In my opinion, there is no need for the Class X board exam. There must be a debate and we must expedite the decision-making process,’’ Tope told TOI. Tope observed that it is high time that the academic community and the government examines the stages of a student’s evaluation. “If students are in the same school from Std I to XII, there is no need for their frequent evaluation,’’ said Tope, a mechanical engineer-turned politician.

Endorsing Sibal’s views, a senior education department official said that while there is debate about a single board conducting the HSC examination, there is unanimity on abolishing the Class X board exam. “In view of the introduction of the 10-plus-2 exam system, the Class X exam has lost its significance. We feel that a decision on abolishing the Class X exam should be taken forthwith,’’ the official said. The official said that when most schools have internal exams for Std VII, the same pattern should be followed for Class X. Since the Class X exam is conducted by the state board, at least 20% of the students who don’t succeed are thrown out of the m a i n s t re a m . “This is a national loss, as many of them give up further education,’’ he said.

The official said, Sibal rightly pointed out that if the Class X exam is abolished, it would reduce the burden not only on students, but parents too. “Let there be less tension and less trauma for students and parents. We must support the steps initiated by the Yashpal committee on education reforms and the proposals made by Sibal,’’ he added.

OPTIONAL STD X BOARD EXAMS: Sibal is taking up the proposal to make Class X board exams optional, especially when a student continues in the same school. Is abolishing the Std X board exam the right way to reduce stress for students? It would water down system

I don’t think this is a good suggestion. Let’s not water down our education system which is looked upon with respect by many foreign education systems. Scrapping the Class X board exam is not the answer to ridding our students of stress. We have to think of other ways to make the system stress-free. We can allow students to explore hobbies together with excelling at their academics.
—Fr Francis Swamy | PRINCIPAL, HOLY FAMILY HIGH SCHOOL

What about accountability?
I have certain reservations about this, because it would imply that schools would get autonomy and that would make accountability a big issue. If Std X boards are abolished, I hope schools make sure they deliver quality education.
—Avnita Bir | PRINCIPAL OF R N PODAR HIGH SCHOOL

Std X boards are a burden
The Std X board exams are a burden on 15-year-old students who are under severe pressure to score well. The problem is so acute that tuitions have become the norm rather than the option. It appears that only tutorial classes are dominating the education scene. Poor students who cannot afford the high fees of tuition classes lose out in such a situation.
—Carl Laurie | PRINCIPAL,
CHRIST CHURCH SCHOOL

Syllabus would be repeated
If there are no Std X board examinations, the colleges would not know which of the students are academically inclined. Optional Std X board exams would mean that all the students would end up studying the same thing for two years. It would defeat the idea of the students becoming independent.
—Yasmin Chagla | PRINCIPAL, CUMBALLA HILL HIGH SCHOOL

Schools may not be sincere
I have my concerns about making the Std X board examinations optional. Internal exams conducted by schools would not have uniformity across different institutions. Some institutions might conduct exams sincerely, while others might not because of the lack of an outside agency.
—Manju Nichani | PRINCIPAL, K C COLLEGE

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I don’t think doing away with the Std X board examinations is a solution. Ultimately, educational institutions have to have some yardstick with which to select their students. Even in the USA, one does have the SAT.
—Pradeep Kulkarni | PRINCIPAL, RUPAREL COLLEGE

Compiled by Madhavi Rajadhyaksha, Mansi Choksi and Mahafreed Irani

USE GRADES, NOT MARKS: Another proposal is to replace marks with grades for Std IX and X students in CBSE-affiliated schools. Do you think thiswould reduce stress for students and better gauge learning?

It would reduce pressure, I feel that this is a very good suggestion. It makes sense and is a good way of reducing pressure on students.
—Fr Francis Swamy | PRINCIPAL, HOLY FAMILY HIGH SCHOOL

Wait and watch
This is something that the CBSE board has been trying to work out. We will have to see how the situation develops. It would, however, reduce the burden on students and would cut down on a lot of this cut-throat competition involving percentages.
—Avnita Bir | PRINCIPAL OF R N PODAR HIGH SCHOOL

Implement this quickly
The grading system can be implemented very quickly and this needs to be done in a hurry. The grading system would be great and the CBSE has already begun talking about it.
—Carl Laurie | PRINCIPAL, CHRIST CHURCH SCHOOL

Students would be free
Grading, instead of marking, is a great idea. Grading is a great system. It would give freedom to students as compared to percentages, which are more specific.
—Yasmin Chagla | PRINCIPAL, CUMBALLA HILL HIGH SCHOOL

Percentages create a lot of stress
I welcome any shift to the grading system as the current system of marking causes a lot of stress among students. At the time of admissions, even just 0.1% can become a deciding factor. This creates creates a lot of pressure on students.
—Manju Nichani | PRINCIPAL, K C COLLEGE

Competition would always be there
Moving from a system of marks to any other system may not change much, as one way or another, students would always end up competing and trying to be ahead of each other. With regard to that, the pressure surrounding the education system or the existence of coaching classes will always remain. These things would always be hard to get rid of as competition would always be there.
—Pradeep Kulkarni | PRINCIPAL, RUPAREL COLLEGE

ACCREDITING SCHOOLS: The Centre wants to explore the possibility of creating an independent authority to accredit school education.
Good idea to assess schools
That’s a good idea because it would be an authentic way of assessing the school and will be a way of encouraging them.
—Fr Francis Swamy | PRINCIPAL, HOLY FAMILY HIGH SCHOOL

Unbiased body needed
This is an important step. We need an unbiased and nonpartisan body that would carry out quality checks and device a systematic ranking system.
—Avnita Bir | PRINCIPAL, R N PODAR HIGH SCHOOL

Keep govt out
It would be a wonderful idea to have an independent body to accredit and assess schools. The government should be kept out of it. As the saying goes, “That government is best which governs least.’’ Instead of bureaucrats, educationists like former vice-chancellors, registrars and principals should be on the body.
—Carl Laurie | PRINCIPAL, CHRIST CHURCH SCHOOL

It would create elitism
It is an American and Australian idea to have accreditation. But I am not in favour of this, because it would only create an elitist system where all the A-grade schools employ the A-grade teachers and hence attract all the A-grade students. The poor students would end up being left out, because in such a system they may not be able to afford these elitist schools.
—Yasmin Chagla | PRINCIPAL,

CUMBALLA HILL HIGH SCHOOL
Single body enough?
This might help serve a purpose. The accreditation could address concerns regarding the quality in the education system across the country. However, again, one has to assess whether one single body would be enough for all the institutions across the entire country.
—Manju Nichani | PRINCIPAL, K C COLLEGE

No comment
I am yet to see the Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal’s statements on this particular matter, and until I do I cannot comment on this subject.
—Pradeep Kulkarni | PRINCIPAL, RUPAREL COLLEGE

UNIFIED BOARD: Union human resources development minister Kapil Sibal has talked about having a unified board and unified board exams. Will this make the system fairer and reduce stress for students when they choose which college to attend?

Keep different boards
It is my opinion that we should not be too hasty in creating a unified board exam. I feel that we should keep the different boards because each of them has unique features and students can profit from them. But I do feel that there should be a common evaluation system even though there is different content. That way there would be no question of the quota system, no superiority bias and no discrimination amongst different students.
—Fr Francis Swamy | PRINCIPAL, HOLY
FAMILY HIGH SCHOOL, ANDHERI

Idea whose time has come I feel this is an excellent idea, especially as it’s coming at a time when Mumbai is reeling under the 90:10 crisis. In fact, this is something that has been long time coming considering that we are now living in a globalized world. It would help mobility within the country. If a student wants to move from one part of the country to another, it would be much easier.
—Avnita Bir | PRINCIPAL, R N
PODAR SCHOOL, SANTA CRUZ

An idealistic notion
The move to unify boards is an idealistic notion that would not be easy to implement. Education is a state subject and individual states won’t leave their golden goose so easily. This rule will take 20 to 30 years to be implemented.
—Carl Laurie | PRINCIPAL, CHRIST
CHURCH SCHOOL, BYCULLA

Can’t kill cash cow easily
Education is a lucrative business and with many schools being run by industrialists and politicians, implementing the unified board system is only an idealistic dream because it would take away the profits earned. Also, it may not practically work because it would mean having a uniform exam and invigilation would be very difficult. This would also encourage a lot of mugging from study guides.
—Yasmin Chagla | PRINCIPAL, CUMBALLA HILL HIGH SCHOOL, OFF NEPEAN SEA ROAD

Good idea, but expensive
A unified board would be the best thing to happen, as we wouldn’t have problems such as the 90:10. But it is worth questioning whether the government is going to spend that kind of money on education? In India, you can’t ignore the cost factor. The government has to clearly define the vision—whether it is mediocrity or quality? For instance, priorities with regard to rural and urban areas are different. While in rural areas, the priority is literacy, in the cities education is the only ambition of children.
—Manju Nichani | PRINCIPAL, K C
COLLEGE, CHURCHGATE

1 board, 1 syllabus, 1 exam
I fully agree with Sibal on the need need for a unified board There should be one board, one syllabus and one examination all over India, just like in the United States, which has the SAT. That would definitely take a lot of pres sure off the students, as preparation would be limited to appearing for one exam.
—Pradeep Kulkarni | PRINCIPAL
RUPAREL COLLEGE, MATUNGA