New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to go for a ’30:30:40 formula’ — 30 per cent from Class 10 board, 30 per cent from Class 11 exam, and 40 per cent from Class 12 assessment — to tabulate Class 12 results this year, the board informed the Supreme Court Thursday.
The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has also decided to go for a similar formula as CBSE, except they have decided to take the average of the last six years instead of three years. While this was orally communicated to the court, CISCE will now submit the written affidavit notifying their marking scheme.
The apex court approved the marking scheme, and said there was no question of rolling back the decision of not holding exams.
The results will be declared by 31 July, the CBSE told the court as it submitted a detailed evaluation criteria, which was decided after the board had to cancel exams last month because of the second Covid-19 wave.
According to the affidavit CBSE submitted in the court, the 40 per cent of marks from Class 12 will be based on unit test/mid-term/pre-board exams, 30 per cent from Class 11 based on theory component of the final exam, and the remaining 30 per cent from Class 10 marks based on average theory component of best three performing subjects out of the main five.
The new formula is to calculate theory marks for students, while practical and internal assessment components will be calculated according to the existing policies. The board had last week asked all schools to complete their practical assessment and submit the data to the board by 28 June.
The marking policy will affect more than 14 lakh candidates who had registered for Class 12 exams in 2020-21 session.
The board has asked schools to form a five member panel for computation of results.
Also read: This is how CBSE schools will assess Class 10 results in the absence of board exams
Theory and practical marks
According to the board’s scheme, theory marks for Class 12 for computation of results will be based on performance in one or more unit test(s)/mid-term/pre-board(s) theory examination, but the school committee may decide internally what should be given more weightage.
“The committee of the school may decide the weightage to be given to each exam based on the credibility and reliability of the assessment,” the affidavit read.
It added that if a school’s committee thinks that only the pre-board exams may be taken into consideration, a full weightage can be given to that component. Similarly, if another school result committee thinks that equal weightage can be given to pre-board exams and mid-term exams, they can choose to do so.
Computation of Class 11 theory marks shall be on the basis of year-end final theory exam in respective subjects. Computation of Class 10 theory marks shall be based on average theory marks obtained by the student(s) in the best three performing subjects out of the main five subjects. This average will be uniformly awarded to all the Class 12 subjects based on theory weightage.
“To facilitate ease in entering the theory marks of class 10, the board will provide the marks for the students who have appeared in CBSE class 10 examinations. For students of other Boards, the schools will have to enter the information based on the class 10 marksheets of the students available with schools,” the affidavit added.
The board also said since the Class 11 and Class 12 marks will be awarded at school level, “they will strictly not be comparable across schools due to the variations in the quality of question papers, the evaluation standard and processes, the mode of conduct of exams etc”.
To ensure standardisation, each school will have to internally moderate the marks to account for the school-level variations by using a reliable reference standard, the board said.
In case any student is not able to meet the qualifying criteria, they will be placed in “Essential Repeat” or “Compartment” category.
Students who are not satisfied with the result calculated based on the policy will be given an opportunity to appear in examinations to be conducted by the board when conditions are conducive for it.
What happened in court
During the court hearing Thursday, a bench of Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari said there was no question of rolling back the decision to not hold the board exams for Class 12 this year.
“We have accepted the CBSE’s decision not to have the mandatory exams. There is no question of reviewing that order,” the bench told senior advocate Vikas Singh, who on behalf of a parents’ body urged the court to permit holding of written examinations.
Singh said Class 12 boards were crucial and decisive tests, on the basis of which a child secures college admission.
But the bench remained firm and told Singh the scheme incorporated a provision for optional exams, which his client’s wards could take if they wanted a chance to improve their results or did not accept the marking system evolved by the respective expert committees of CBSE and CISCE.
When Singh sought time to examine the two schemes and revert with suggestions, the bench allowed him to do so and fixed 21 July to hear the matter again. If found feasible, the court could ask the two boards to assess them independently.
It even asked the two boards to formulate the comprehensive scheme so it could be notified. However, the court asked them to incorporate more elements — a provision for a dispute resolution mechanism of students, date for declaration of results and a tentative timeline for conducting the written exams.
“The present scheme does not provide for a dispute resolution mechanism. How do you propose to address issues regarding correctness of marks after declaration of results?” the bench asked Attorney General K.K. Venugopal after he read out the contents of the scheme.
When Venugopal expressed reluctance to specify any tentative date to hold the optional tests, the bench clarified it was obvious that exams would be held subject to the prevailing conditions related to Covid at the relevant time.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mazumdar)
Also read: Assess Class 10 students over phone if they missed internal exams, CBSE tells schools