The mix-up in the results of the SSLC examination might check the influx of students from the CBSE stream to schools under the State board this academic year, the managements have said.
Several CBSE students shifted to government and aided schools every year, mostly impressed by the liberal valuation followed by the State board. Students from Classes 8 and 9 in CBSE schools comprised the main group of students who migrated to schools under the State board.
‘Re-think needed’
“With things getting exposed now, we hope the parents will re-think before shifting their students to the State board. How can we test the real skill of students when the pass percentage is almost touching the 100 per cent mark,” asked Indira Rajan, general secretary of the Kerala CBSE School Management Association.
Stating that their criticism on the shortcomings in the valuation pattern of the State board now stood vindicated, Ms. Rajan said many parents shifted their children, especially in the higher classes, hoping that the liberal valuation would help the students gain admission to professional courses.
Engineering rank list
Referring to the association’s long-standing plea that the State board students benefited from the normalisation process followed while preparing the rank list of engineering entrance examinations, T.P.M. Ibrahim Khan, president of the CBSE Management Association, said the mix-up and wrong results in the SSLC examination had hit the State’s credibility in the educational sector.
“This should be a learning point for the stakeholders. We must realise that students no longer prefer pursuing professional courses here.
“They are migrating to other States fearing that quality levels have come down in our system. More engineering seats will now remain vacant this year,” he said.
Parents to whom The Hindu spoke to admitted that they would consider the shortcomings in the evaluation process but made it clear that liberal valuation remained a distant dream in the CBSE stream.
“Take for example the Mathematics exam for Class 12 CBSE students. Despite the really tough question paper, the authorities have not yet decided on a liberal evaluation pattern.
“We fear that our children may be left out while the State board students gain the advantage of liberal valuation,” they said.