The Karnataka Secondary Education and Examination Board on Monday claimed that the pass percentage in the 2016 SSLC results dipped no more than 2.66 points when compared with last year. But a closer scrutiny of the data reveals that the board compared figures in a way that made the dip appear less bitter than it is in reality — which is 6.82 percentage points.
The board compared the pass percentage of only the freshers of 2016 (which stood at 79.16) with the overall pass percentage of the 2015 exam (81.82). The board did not say that the overall pass percentage in 2016 (which includes not only freshers but also repeaters and private candidates) is 75.
Showing a dip of 6.82 percentage points would have portrayed the State government in poor light, and this may have prompted the authorities to announce 2.66 points as the difference in pass percentage.
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On Monday, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar said that nearly 6.17 lakh students, of the 7.79 lakh who took the exam, had passed. This, however, did not include repeaters and private candidates.
Grace marks
The dip in the pass percentage, which makes this year’s results the lowest in the last four years, is being attributed to the decision to not give grace marks “too generously” to students. For several years now, the department has been allotting grace marks to help students who score close to the passing marks, so that they become eligible for higher studies.
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‘Awarded judiciously’
“The department has been encouraging this practice so that students from academically weaker backgrounds get a push and become eligible for higher studies. But this year, senior officials of the department went against the practice and decided not to give any grace marks. Later, however, decided to give grace marks judiciously,” a department source said.