TIRUCHI
The joy of scores of ‘below average’ students in government and government-aided schools, who had got through the SSLC public exam owing to government decision to declare 'all pass' in view of the COVID 19 pandemic, seems to be short-lived as their progression to Plus One appears difficult.
School heads here say it is simply impossible to accommodate all the students in Plus One due to capacity constraints. In several schools, the students were given 'just pass' status by adding grace marks in abundance.
"Students who used to score in single digits in quarterly and half-yearly exams are out of the radar for Plus One admission. They naturally lose out as the better performers have to be prioritised," a teacher of a government-aided school in the city said.
Government and government-aided schools are understood to consider the applications of only those students who had scored not less than 50% in the quarterly and half-yearly exams for Plus One admissions. The formula for final evaluation suggested by the government was 80% weightage for marks obtained in quarterly and half-yearly exam and 20% for attendance.
Inevitably all students had to be given the 20% weightage for attendance uniformly despite their absence during the latter part of the academic year since the nominal rolls for the public exams are prepared much earlier. "The all-pass decision, though inevitable, is bound to further burden the government schools with the responsibility of handling students who are not fit enough for higher secondary education,” a school head said.
According to a section of teachers, the prevailing situation is expected to bolster patronage for Industrial Training Institutes from 'below average' students. "There is a large possibility for students in this category to opt for vocational education in the Industrial Training Institutes. But, the question is to what extent the ITIs would be able to absorb the students. The number of ITIs was meagre in proportion to that of the higher secondary schools," they said.
“ It will be prudent for the government to devise measures at this juncture to make sure that students do not drop out of mainstream education after SSLC," a senior teacher in Lalgudi block said.
