Students who have just passed the Class X examination from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) can now look forward to a more elaborate certificate that will grade them in scholastic and co-scholastic areas. The certificate, to be issued under the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme introduced by the CBSE, will give descriptive indicators under co-scholastic areas as well.
This is the first time in the country that any board of secondary education will issue a certificate that will grade students or scholastic and non-scholastic areas.
The descriptive record of co-scholastic achievements in addition to the scholastic in the profile of a learner adds value to a record which for students is a lifelong document. “The fact that strengths and positive characteristics are a part of this narrative further strengthens this document, and a student passing out of the CBSE now stands a better chance of being admitted anywhere in the world with a more descriptive certificate of school-based assessment being offered by the Board,” Kapil Sibal, Union Human Resource Development Minister told journalists, while displaying a model of the new Class X certificate here on Thursday.
Describing the CCE – which came under sharp criticism initially – as a success, Mr. Sibal said over 10.6 lakh candidates were registered for the Class X exam this year, indicating an increase of about 17.66 per cent candidates over that of last year. The percentage of candidates eligible for admission in higher classes in 2011 was 96.90 as against 89.28 in 2010. The candidates had studied in a stress-free atmosphere and the feedback received from students, parents and teachers was that the psychological load of an end-term public examination had completely disappeared and there were no cases of panic or anxiety as was the norm over the last few years, Mr Sibal said.
“The CCE has been a great social equaliser as it has enabled students of both rural and urban schools, those with minimal infrastructure to the one's who boast of international standards to come together on a common platform. They are all being assessed on the same parameters, with the same strategies, employing same indicators,” the Minister said adding that the major difference was that these students could be participative irrespective of the language they use and the socio-economic background they come from.
A majority of students (67 per cent) opted for school-based examination. The performance of the students appearing and board and school examinations was similar with pass percentage being 99.06 per cent and 98.61 per cent respectively and the average marks being 67 and 65 per cent respectively. As many as 38,377 students got the topmost grades in all 5 subjects as compared to 11,055 in the last year. As many as 29,947 students got the top grades in all co-scholastic areas, an indication that we need to focus more on co-scholastic areas.
