The rare Maths centum in any public examination was celebrated once. Not anymore. High marks have become a commonplace over the years due to fierce competition among students, and this phenomenon seems to have reached a crescendo this year. It just rained centums in this year’s Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations, the results of which were published on Friday.
As many as 7,494 Madurai students have full marks – three in Tamil, one in French, 28 in Sanskrit, 73 in English, 1,116 in Mathematics, 4,548 in Science and 1,725 in Social Studies.
School authorities say there is a spurt in the number of centums in Class X examinations in the last two years, particularly after the introduction of Uniform Syllabus. “Until a few years ago, full marks were rare. With condensed syllabus under the new system, scoring full marks has become easy. Of late, even students of government schools are scoring full marks,” says T. Senthilnathan, president of Private School Correspondents’ Federation and president of Tagore Vidyalayam Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
Pointing out that the number of full mark scorers has risen to several thousands in the past two years, he says, “There is also fierce competition among students, who aim for admissions to premier institutions such as Indian Institutes of Technology. Above 90 per cent is considered to be good mark now, whereas 60 or 70 per cent was deemed first-rate till a few years ago.”
“While it is welcome that so many students are scoring full marks, we also want the syllabus to be challenging for students,” Mr. Senthilnathan says.
W. Daya Shyamala, Principal of SBOA Matriculation Higher Secondary School, opines that full marks serve as a motivating factor. “Students are able to score more centums in Class X because there is emphasis on objective type questions. The scoring key of language papers is also such that full marks are easy to get. However, we tell our students that higher secondary will not be a cakewalk like the SSLC, and we urge them to work harder,” she adds.
Ms. Shyamala says her school had three teachers handling Science in each class, the reason why there were the maximum number of centums in the subject.
R. Kannammal, Headmistress, Masathiyar Girls Higher Secondary School, which saw 31 students scoring full marks in Science, says major credit must go to the hard work put in by the students and teachers.
“A school like ours has students belonging to poor families. Our teachers worked day and night to help them understand the subject with presentations on projectors and individual attention,” she says.
K. Bhagavathy, a Chemistry teacher at Sourashtra Girls Higher Secondary School, says “The question pattern for the SSLC itself is so easy that it does not require the students to work hard. Students can score high marks, even centums, by leaving out a few chapters. These students might find the syllabus in Classes XI and XII difficult, particularly in Biology and Physics.”
Besides making changes in the SSLC syllabus and including more portions, the question pattern should also be changed. The students too have better analytical skills required to cope up with a challenging syllabus because of Activity-Based Learning, she adds.
On the other hand, Salai Selvam, an educationist, who was also a consultant during Uniform Syllabus preparation, says full marks give students mental strength and confidence. “Higher secondary education needs skilled and committed teachers who can help students keep up the mental strength. The uniform syllabus is not actually condensed as claimed by many. It appears inadequate only when compared to the higher secondary syllabus,” she adds.
“The government must take steps to bring in a balance between the SSLC and higher secondary syllabi. There is also a possibility that evaluation of the papers was lenient,” she concludes.
