New Delhi: Grading students in Class 12 instead of allotting marks is one of the proposals that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is understood to be considering for tabulating Class 12 results this year, ThePrint has learnt.
Last month, Class 12 exams for the year 2021 were cancelled due to the raging second Covid-19 wave in the country. It was decided that results will be announced based on a “well-defined” criteria.
Sources in the education ministry told ThePrint that several options for calculating the results are being considered, including basing it on the pre-board results as well as Class 11 and Class 10 marks.
Another option is to base the results on the Class 10 board exams and all exams taken in Class 11, including the unit tests, half-yearly exam and pre-board exam, ministry officials said.
It is also possible that grades could be awarded instead of marks this year, they added.
“Since exams are not happening this year, it would be unfair to allot marks to students and hence the suggestion of grading instead of marks came up during discussions with the committee,” a ministry official said.
He added that the grading suggestion also resonated with school principals.
CBSE used to award grades — such as A1, A, B1, B, C1, C, D and E — to its Class 10 students on the basis of a “continuous and comprehensive evaluation” policy. This was, however, discontinued after Class 10 board exams were re-started. If the board decides to grade students in Class 12 this year, a similar grading method could be followed.
ThePrint reached both the CBSE’s and the education ministry’s official spokespersons for a comment in this regard via message and email but didn’t receive any response by the time of publishing this report.
Also read: This is how CBSE schools will assess Class 10 results in the absence of board exams
Committee draws up suggestions, govt to decide
These suggestions were put forward by a committee that the board had constituted for drawing up criteria for declaring the Class 12 results. The committee is expected to submit its report by Monday, following which the government will study all suggestions and come up with a criteria for schools to base their results on.
Some of these suggestions resonated with school principals in a meeting with representatives of the board.
A school principal from Vadodara who was at the meeting told ThePrint, “We had conveyed to the board that more weightage should be given to Class 11 performance and not just to Class 10 performance because a lot of subjects that students study in Class 12 are similar to that of Class 11.”
Another school principal, from Delhi, who was also present, said, “If the board wants a fair and just criteria, then including Class 11 and 10 marks is a must, because results can’t be based completely on Class 12 pre-board results.”
Both principals requested anonymity.
The board is expected to announce a final decision soon. Last week, it had asked schools to finish their internal and practical assessments by the end of June so that final results could be tabulated.
(Edited by Manasa Mohan)
Also read: Assess Class 10 students over phone if they missed internal exams, CBSE tells schools