Aerika Singh, Chandigarh, September 11, 2009: This year the class X students will face a new look of their board exams-grading system. This change is being implemented to de-stress the students appearing for the board exams. It will change the scenario from students vying for each point percentage to the one where difference of point percentage will not be noticeable, categorizing the students, within a broad range of percentages, under the same Grade.
This change may be helpful in some way but on the contrary, it may result in mushrooming of already money-minting coaching centers and academies which prepare the students for succeeding in entrance tests rather than Board examinations. With this reform seemingly working in favour of the competitive exams, we may see an increase in influx of students to the private coaching centers, further reducing the importance of teaching at school, which usually focus on preparing students for the board examinations. With the evaluation being decentralized, students are more likely to take their school examinations for granted understanding fully that Schools will always be liberal in grading to maintain its repute.
“The stress remains the same” said Ms Gurnam Grewal, principal Guru Nanak Public School, showing indifference to this change and added “Now the students study to secure higher marks and under this system the students will be working hard to get the top grades with the similar strain levels.” “Not the abolishment of percentage system but that of the entrance exam could only decrease stress among the students” proposed Ms Grewal. “Anyways as student generally will be curious to know whether one is of Grade A1 with 91% or with 99%, the majority are expected to file applications to know the exact marks, percentages and percentiles. It will eventually make no difference except for increase in the administrative work load.” said Ms Grewal, expressing her doubts on the practicality of this system.
On the sunny side the internal assessment may mitigate the problems of fluctuating study pressure due to erstwhile dependence only on the annual exams, but with this system students have to consistently perform, through out the year to secure top grades. Besides honing up their life-skills, the students will have to change from “the cramming up” to “the conceptual understanding” to be successful. Though those getting 90% and those getting 99% will be under the same roof, however, it is but obvious that one getting higher percentage will have better career options to choose from vis-a-vis the others and will mark the difference with better performance later in the competitive examinations.
“We need to develop a standard system for internal assessments so as to rule out the subjectivities in the internal assessments across the schools” said Ms Seema Asri, a senior teacher at The Tribune School, Chandigarh. “It is a good reform, as a small subjectivity which creeps into the evaluation mechanism on account of multiple evaluators evaluating the answer sheets, will now be taken care of by the grading system” countered Mr Ravinder Vimal, a Senior Mathematics school-teacher.
Aerika Singh, a Class X student at Guru Nanak Public School, is a student reporter.