LUCKNOW: After setting a record of highest dropouts — over 11 lakh —
Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Board (
UP Board) examinations has another first. This year, there is hardly any crowd on the top in Asia’s biggest examinations. Records accessed by TOI show that not a single class XII student has entered the elite club of 95-percenters and above. This performance is poorest since 2012, when three students scored 95% and above. In 2017, 14 students qualified for the 95% and above bracket. The number of students scoring 90% and above too has fallen down drastically — from 1,976 in 2017 to merely 137 this year. Of this, 90 are boys and 47 are girls.
According to secretary, Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Board, Neena
Srivastava, “The probable reason for drop in high scorers could be the stringent measures taken by the government to check cheating.”
In class XII this year, the number of top performers was lowest after 2012. Ashok Ganguly, former chairperson,
Central Board of Secondary Education, said it was definitely less crowded at top this year. “What is shocking is that not a single students could score above 95% in class XII. It could be due to inadequate teachinglearning process in the classroom. This year, board exams were held a little earlier and in many situation, courses could not be completed,” Ganguly said.
He felt that this year unscrupulous elements and non-serious students chose to stay away from the examinations, thanks to stringent measures taken by the government to curb the menace of cheating. According to Ganguly, the board must have not allowed moderation and no spiking of marks took place to inflate the results. However, in order to improve the performance of students, Ganguly said, “Classroom teaching has to come back. We need to focus on discovering the syllabus and revising the syllabus. A minimum days of teaching is required in class X and XII which did not happened last year. Also, the practice of pre-boards like the CBSE, and ICSE should begin in UP board schools.”
In 2016, as high as 16,845 class XII students scored 90% and above. This was in fact, highest since 2012. Similarly, 585 students, also highest since 2012 entered the 95 percenters and above club. In 2012, only 104 students scored 90% and above marks, while barely three could make it to 95% and above.
