Ahead of their results, secondary school certificate (SSC) students from the state have a new cause for worry, other than the high scores of CBSE and ICSE Class 10 students – the impact of scrapping of oral exams for languages and social sciences on their scores.

With the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) scrapping the oral tests, students had to take a 100-mark exam for languages and social sciences. Although the idea of the education department was to stop schools from giving a free hand to students to better their scores, it will now prove to be a hurdle, as SSC students will have to compete with students from other boards who get 20 to 50 marks as internals in each subject.

“It will not be a level playing field for state board students this time. While the other boards are stressing on the importance of bringing in practicals and internals, scrapping orals in the state board would mean that students have to completely rely on their marks from one paper. This would make it difficult for an average student to score well,” said Uday Nare, teacher, Hansraj Morarji Public School in Andheri.

In 2017-18, the state education department revised the curriculum for Class 9 and shifted its focus from memory-based learning to conceptual learning. As part of this shift, the board introduced ‘activity sheets’ in language papers, with the aim of helping students understand the concepts. The same pattern was adopted for Class 10 in 2018-19 and internal marks for languages and social sciences were scrapped. “The paper pattern for the state board and other boards is different and so is the marking style. Competition between these students for a junior college seat seems unfair,” said Anna Correa, principal, Stanislaus high school, Bandra.

Under the current pattern, CBSE students have 20 internal marks for all compulsory subjects – English, second language, maths, science and social sciences. These marks are given by the school based on the student’s performance in the subject through the year. From 2017 to 2019, the number of students scoring 95% and above at the board exams went up to 57,256 from 4,933.

Ganesh Parameswaran, principal, Bal Bharti Public School, Navi Mumbai, said, “Two years ago, representatives of all boards and state governments decided to address the issue at the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Meeting. Despite this, students continue to get such high scores.”

The Council of Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) allows ICSE students to drop mathematics in Class 9 and 10. Students can instead opt for an optional subject, for which they have 50 internal marks. For core subjects such as English, social sciences and the second language, students have to write an 80-mark examination, with 20 marks given internally. “While optional subjects are not easy, as they have a vast syllabus, they definitely give a choice to students, as they can drop maths if need be,” said Kavita Sanghvi, principal, Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School, Vile Parle.

Officials at the education department said students need not worry, as the number of students from other boards seeking admission to junior colleges under the state board is small. “Only 5-7% of the total applicants are from these boards. Besides, the new paper pattern is easy and will help students score well,” said a senior official from the education department.

Fight for every FYJC seat to get tougher, say experts

Continuing with the trend for the past few years, competition for a junior college seat at some of the prominent colleges is the city will be fierce, say experts. While the increase in the 95% and above club across boards is one reason, this time the introduction of new quotas in non-minority colleges is likely to add to it.

Minority colleges in the city such as St Xavier’s College, Jai Hind College, Mithibai College etc. have 50% of their seats reserved for the minorities. While these colleges were earlier allowed to surrender their quota seats before the centralised admission process begins, an order of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court from last year now allows them to do so only after three admission rounds. “As vacant minority seats will open up only towards the end, there will be a very tough competition in the first three rounds. Students who choose to take the risk of waiting till the end might benefit and get a better college even with a lower score,” said Ashok Wadia, principal, Jai Hind College.

This year, with the introduction of quotas for Marathas and economically backward sections, reservations at non-minority colleges in the city will reach 83-93%.

Rajpal Hande, principal, Mithibai college, said top colleges always see a large number of students from the other boards competing against the state board students. “We get many students with high scores, some of whom are even from the other states. While the total number of such students in the state is less, their concentration is in a select few colleges making competition for the state board students tough,” he said.

First Published: May 20, 2019 00:28 IST