Environmental studies a blessing in disguise

It caused panic when it was included as a compulsory subject at the beginning of the academic year, but environmental studies turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Class X students.

 Those who had criticised the subject as an added burden are now happy at its inclusion in the syllabus. Tejas Naphade of Poddar School, Santacruz, who scored 100/100 in environmental education feels that the subject was a godsend. “It helped me improve my overall percentage. The paper was not very tough and chances of getting a good score were high,” he said. “We are a very fortunate batch.” He added, “From next year on, there may be a grading system to mark the subject.”

After the Supreme Court sent a directive to make environmental studies compulsory, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Maharashtra State Board had decided to introduce the subject on an experimental basis, without making it a part of board exam syllabus. But the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) board had gone ahead and included it as a theory paper of 100 marks.

“The students were apprehensive about the new subject and felt that the exam would be tough. The curriculum was also not available on time,” said Ravi Vijayam, principal, Sulochanadevi Singhania School. “But the council maintained a student-friendly approach and was quite fair in setting the paper. In fact the paper helped them score better.”
“Initially, the students had a mental block. They were already stressed and when they came to know about the extra subject, they were understandably upset,” said Carl Laurie, principal, Christ Church School. “Our students scored very well in environmental education. The highest was 96 out of 100, which is pretty good.” For ICSE students, this is one risk that paid off.