Of 16 lakh Class 10 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students across India, more than 7.81 lakh opted for the school-based tests over board exams, which are considered to be more stressful. However, students will not have the same option next year, as school exams will be scrapped from this year.
Five of 200 Class 10 students from RN Podar School, Santacruz, opted for the school exams. Of them, Rithvik Sharma secured a 8.8 cumulative grade point average (CGPA). “We wanted him to be comfortable, as he suffers from a mild learning disability. Opting for school exams meant that he did not have to face the fierce competition in board exams,” said Monica, his mother. Rithvik plans to continue his CBSE education and will pursue commerce.
School-based exams were introduced in 2009 to reduce students’ stress.
Last year, the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) decided to bring back compulsory board exams in Class 10, owing to few takers for the school-based exams.
Principals said the school-based exams were a good idea, but the scheme failed in Mumbai, as the Maharashtra state government refused to accept these marks for admission to first-year junior colleges (FYJC).
At Rajhans Vidyalaya, Andheri, not a single student has opted for the school-based exam in the past two years. “The Maharashtra government’s refusal to accept school-based scores has made it unpopular among students who want to switch to HSC after Class 10,” said Deepshikha Srivastava, principal of the school.
Only students who wish to continue studying in a CBSE school for Class 11 and Class 12 opt for school-based exams. “The school-based exam was good for students who wanted to continue in CBSE after Class 10, but there were not many takers for it in Mumbai,” said Ganesh Parmeshwaran, principal, Bal Bharti Public School, Navi Mumbai, in which all the students opted for board exams.
[“source-hindustantimes”]
