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A section of school teachers have demanded making minimum pass marks in written tests mandatory for clearing Class X exams and reintroducing marks in the SSLC certificate in the wake of the controversy over Director of General Education S. Shanavas’ reported remarks about the quality of education in Kerala.
Mr. Shanavas reportedly said during a teachers’ workshop that ‘A’ Plus grades were being awarded to students who could not even read properly. K.K. Sreejesh Kumar, general secretary, Kerala Aided Higher Secondary Teachers Association, pointed out on Thursday that minimum pass marks for written exams were set aside when the grading system was introduced in Class X over a decade ago.
Of the total 650 marks, 130 are for continuing evaluation or CE, a sort of internal assessment of the student by the respective teachers. A total of 30% marks are required to clear the exams. There are seven papers for 50 marks each and three papers for 100 marks each, of which 20% is for CE. Thus, for a 50-marks question paper, 40 marks are for the written test and the rest are for CE. For a 100-marks question paper, 80 marks are for the written test and the rest are for CE. “But the problem is that almost all the students are given full marks in the CE. That means, for a 50-mark question paper, even if the students score five marks in the written test, they will clear the exam as the rest will come in the form of CE marks. For a 100-mark question paper, the students may have to get only 10 marks in the written test,” he pointed out.
S. Manoj, general secretary, Aided Higher Secondary Teachers Association, alleged that the teachers were also forced to liberally grant marks during the evaluation of answer scripts. He pointed out that teachers would be taken to task if there was a slight difference in marks during the re-evaluation process. Mr. Manoj said that a conducive and calm atmosphere was necessary for the proper evaluation of answer scripts.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sreejesh Kumar said that ever since the practice of mentioning marks in the SSLC certificate was stopped, there had been problems during the admissions to Plus One courses. He said that there could be variations in marks among students who are being given ‘A’ Plus grade. Someone who scores 90% marks and those who score 100% marks would get same grade. Some times, a student with higher marks may be pushed away because of the different factors that determine the eligibility to get admissions to Plus One courses. Reintroduction of marks in the SSLC certificate and making them a benchmark for admissions would end the disparity, he added.
