Union Human Resources Development minister Kapil Sibal’s announcement about Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) making Class X board exam optional has created severe confusion in the minds of students, parents, principals and teachers about how the CBSE students migrating to state boards would be accommodated.
Sibal announced on Monday that from current academic session itself, CBSE Class X students would be awarded grades instead of marks in board exam. He said from next session, board exam would be optional. It would be replaced by continuous assessment. In either case, students would get grades, not marks. The main argument for this is that if students are to stay in same school, why burden them with a board exam.
However, in Nagpur, a large number of students per force have to opt for state board as number of CBSE board schools have a lot fewer seats for Class XI and XII than for Class X. So students who do not get admission into own school have to look for junior colleges or schools under state board. Since they would be getting grades, it would be tough to compare them with state board students who would get marks.
Sibal, however, saw no problem. He told TOI on phone from Delhi that these students would be awarded percentile marks along with grades which would help them get admission to other boards. “If they wish to take admission in the junior colleges of state board, we would be awarding them percentiles,” he said.
On there not being sufficient seats in CBSE board schools, Sibal said the exam was becoming optional from next academic session, and the CBSE schools have enough time to add sections of Class XI and XII. Despite this, CBSE school principals in the city are in dark as they did not receive any directives either from the CBSE or from HRD ministry.
“I can’t comment on minister’s announcement as we have yet to receive a formal communication in this regard. But I believe that there can’t be two sets of rules for CBSE and state board students,” principal of Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir in Civil lines Beena Gokhale told TOI. Centre Point School, Katol Road branch principal Kana Roy Chaudhari hailed the decision but said that she too had not received official guidelines. “I hope by 2010-2011, situation would improve and CBSE affiliated schools would develop necessary infrastructure to accommodate their tenth standard students,” she stated. She said if state board schools also accept the grade system by then, there would not be any problem.
Dhanwate National College principal Baban Taywade, who is also chairman of committee for Standard XI centralised admission process, said that it would create severe confusion among students and in state board affiliated colleges about admitting CBSE students. “CBSE students will face problems taking admissions in state board junior colleges. If the state government also implements the grade system, then things will be different,” he said. Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya Joy Joseph felt that for KV group of schools there will not any problems as government would give permission to open more sections of Class XI and XII. The trouble is that in Maharashtra, High Court has already quashed the percentile system as illegal. The new move, which again puts CBSE and state students in different valuation systems, is bound to face legal challenges.