Mumbai: Students of Classes 10 and 12 of the state board would get 10-20 bonus marks in their upcoming board exams for participating in National Cadet Corps (NCC) and the Scouts and Guides events.

A recent government resolution (GR) issued by the state education department extended the bonus-marks scheme to the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) students who have participated in national and international events organised by the two associations. Students who take part in the Republic Day parade and related events will get 10 marks while medal winners in these events would be granted 15 marks. Students participating in international youth exchange programmes would be given 20 marks. “The move intends to increase the participation of students in NCC and Scouts and Guides,” states the GR.

The GR has also revised the marking scheme for students participating in sports events. Until now, students who participated in district, division and state-level tournaments would be awarded up to 15 marks. This has been scrapped now. Now, only medal winners from these categories would be granted up to 10 marks. Students participating in national and international sporting events would, however, continue to get up to 25 marks.

Schools said the revised policy would encourage students to take up NCC and Scouts and Guides activities.

“A lot of students often don’t show interest in the subject as it is only graded. This would push them to look at them more seriously,” said Shaila Patil, a PT teacher from a suburban school.

In 2016, the state education department introduced bonus marks for Class 10 students excelling in extra-curricular activities to encourage students to pursuing them.

Students could score up to 25 bonus marks as per the policy. With the bonus marks spiking student’s scores, the department revised its policy in 2017 capping the maximum marks to 15.

While students can avail these bonus marks from the current academic year, a student can only be awarded a maximum of 25 bonus marks.

First Published: Dec 22, 2018 00:27 IST