The Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) pioneering measures to ensure stress-free board exams have failed to cut ice with students, who fell no less pressured than their counterparts from other boards.
The CBSE Std X board exams, which got underway yesterday, will produce the first batch of students to receive results in grades, and not marks and percentages. The idea was to prevent undue pressure built up by the marks race. However, the initiative is proving of little help as most would be requesting for aggregate percentages to seek admission into junior colleges.
“Since I will ask for aggregate scores for junior college admission, the grading system does not make much difference. I know that I will have to score over 85% to get into a decent college,” said Ajay Verma, a student from a suburban CBSE school.
Seconding Verma’s view, Shivani Bharadwaj, a parent of a student from Rajhans Vidyalay, said, “It is difficult to think in terms of grades when the criteria for junior college admissions remain the same. The stress level of children will subside only if all education boards evaluate with the grading system.”
Manish R, a Std X student preparing for the social science paper admitted that the new grading system has not helped in lowering stress. “I can see the same anxiety in my classmates. Only students who fail in any subject will be happy to see the grade, instead of ‘fail’.”
The CBSE board will provide aggregate marks and percentages on special request to students for the first few years. However, this facility will be withdrawn after a few years.
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