It was customary of CBSE to release various notifications for students especially during the crucial central board examination of class 12th. But with everything from working style to study patterns going for a 180 degree flip amidst the pandemic, notifications are being released for the CBSE by the Supreme Court lately. With the cancellation of the 12th Board examination all over India, many students took a sigh of relief and some were impulsively perplexed with whether to consider it a good or bad decision.
Recently, a formula for the evaluation of marks for class 12th has been put forward by the CBSE and the court has further asked the schools to upload the theory marks of the students on the portal by July 5. The date to upload Class 11 marks has also been extended till July 2.
The evaluation mechanism for a class 12th student of CBSE talks of a 30:30:40 formula which gives 30 % weightage to the marks secured in class 10th, 30% to 11th standard marks, and further 40% weightage to the marks in exams conducted in the 12th standard so far. This formula has been confined for theory subjects of CBSE.
Usually, the gravitas and aura associated with the school board examination have been like a crowning of sorts since time immemorial. Students used to prepare the whole year vigorously and diligently to secure great scores to the best of their abilities for the prestigious examinations. This can also be attributed to the pivotal role played by them in higher studies or any career choice the student might opt for. The marks rewarded by CBSE or for that matter any board examination are considered innately sacred.
The premier institute of the country and the capital for higher studies, the University of Delhi admits students on a meritorious basis. It comes up with merit lists corresponding to the marks obtained by the students in their 12th examinations. These cut-offs are blatantly famous for being unrealistically high. Some colleges of the University have 100% cut-offs for admission. The trend and the fulcrum of the fact are based on insanely high markings given by CBSE be it through various parameters. This not only makes the filtering process by universities difficult but also a sense of credibility loss is sought for CBSE.
Further, the decision of not conducting an examination for the 12th grade and formulating a corresponding formula for it looks like the only way to dissolve the crossroads with the disastrous situation of Covid-19 across the nation can lead to far-reaching consequences. It can add to the already looming cloud over the selection/admission process of the students in various universities and can manifest another coaching business model to aggregate in cities, towns, and even in rural areas.
This can further make the students dubious of the efforts to put in their school examination which might not fetch them concrete or materialistic gains. Probably, new trends of keeping a filtering entrance examination even in the universities which used to weigh school marks as an admission criterion would encourage more private bidders and selfish concentrated coaching models for preparing students for their future examination.
This can be as far-sighted as schools losing credibility as an institution. A central system of keeping a check upon the marking schemes is required with the more credible evaluation of studies during the schooling age of a student. This can remediate further education admission problems and restore higher credibility of school which in true sense is the mold of the character of a person.