-By Aswathy Sathyapal and Poonam Atreya
The resurgence of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with an exorbitant rise in the mortality rate led the Central government along with the Central Board of Secondary Education to cancel the std 12th Board exams. Further to the same the Supreme Court, on the 3rd of June, ordered CBSE to present the parameters to be used for the assessment of students within two weeks. Putting all discussions to hold, The Supreme Court, on the 17th of June, passed the comprehensive assessment of 30:30:40 marks weightage suggested by the CBSE.
While The Voices already covered the myriad of reactions post the cancellation of exams, it now follows up on the reaction of the student and the teacher fraternity on the assessment pattern designed.
As per the recommended pattern, 40% weightage of marks is given to the unit test/ mid-term/ pre-board of Class 12; 30% weightage of marks is provided to the final exams of Class 11 and 30% weightage of marks is provided based on the average theory component of best three performing subjects out of main 5 subjects. The marks of practical/ internal assessment on an actual basis as uploaded by the school on the CBSE portal.
“CBSE has to comply the orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India regarding the declaration of the results of XIIth Std on 31st July. Hence, all schools are directed to upload the marks of XIth Std as per schedule with any further delay. NO extension will be provided for the same.” reads the latest circular released by Dr. Sanyam Bharadwaj, CBSE Controller of Exams.
“The only concern that has come up with this assessment, amongst both the parents and children, is the inclusion of the 11th std marks. There is a general tendency of students not focusing on the 11th std exams and hence tend to score low. However, the criteria is comprehensive overall.” says Mrs. Bonani Hazarika, Principal Army Public School, Solmara, Assam.
Considering the current situation, Sarvamangala, a Senior Secondary School teacher from DPS Ranchi, quotes that she feels the health and the safety of the kids need to be given more importance amidst the pandemic.” While the students have an apprehension of a reduced score in the 11th std though it was help offline, the same would get balanced while taking into consideration the 10th std Board exam score which is also given by third party other than the school.” She also feels that considering the outflow of our students to the Universities abroad, reconsidering an offline exam mode now would be more of a waste of time.
Speaking on similar lines, is a 12th std student of DPS Eldeco, Lucknow “The only loophole it has is taking the final score of 11th std in the evaluation criteria, as many of the students do not pay much heed to this class as their focus is on scoring well in the 12th std. But the overall criteria looks right.” says Shruti Shukla.
However, parents still seem to be uncertain about how this pattern would help them in their future endeavors. “How will the future unfold for the students being promoted on such a basis without being evaluated on proper examination parameters. Will it add to an already problematic domain? Is anything being thought of on these lines by the authorities?” asks Shailendra Yadav, parent of DPS, Eldeco, Lucknow. Meanwhile, considering the present situation, Nirmala Pradhan, parent of 12std student, Tezpur Gurukul, Assam says “As a parent of a 12 std student an extremely needed decision has been put forward not letting the uncertainties anymore. I think giving the exams physically is much fairer and more appropriate for a 12th Std student, but we also need to cope with the current situation. So, I accept the current evaluation criteria and hope everyone gets fair results.”
It seems to be a mixed bag of emotions amongst the students, as some of them seem to have concentrated more on the upcoming Board exams. Says Ayushi Shukla, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pune “I am not quite happy with the inclusion of 11th std in the evaluation criteria as I had focused more on the coaching classes for entrance exams that year. Hence, I haven’t scored well in the 11th grade. I will have to appear for the exams if I am not satisfied once the results are announced.” While on the other side, Harshvardhan Modi of RSV HR. SEC. SCHOOL, Bikaner, Rajasthan states “I am waiting for the results to assess whether the assessment criteria is good or not. I have neutral views as of now because we can’t predict how we will be judged. Let’s wait.”
“We will now be extending the assessment policy of 2021 and creating an assessment policy for 2022 keeping the pandemic in view,” says Sanyam Bharadwaj, controller of Examination, CBSE, whereas speaking to Education Times very recently. “This year, we are utilising the assessment of other classes for evaluating the students, but in 2022, we would develop the internal assessment of class X and XII in such a manner that it would be uniform across the nation, transparent and logical so that we can utilise the same for the declaration of the results. From time to time, the Board will receive the performance of the students, the details of which can be utilised for result declaration in case of any pandemic-like challenges, without using the assessment of other classes. We are planning to strengthen the importance of Unit Tests, Half Yearly/Mid-Term and pre-board examinations,” Bharadwaj says.
A move that has been the need of the and taking into consideration the future of the young minds is what was in the store while considering the cancellation of the exams and the assessment pattern determination, experts agree.