Gujarat: 31% fail in Maths, 32% in Science

AHMEDABAD: Gujaratis may be renowned worldwide for their prowess in business calculations, but mathematics — along with science — remains the Achilles heel for Gujarati students of class X.

This year, 31% of students failed in mathematics and 32% in science. The figures have remained consistent for the past two years — with 32% and 29% failing in these subjects in 2017 and 2018. English (the second language) is another trouble spot for class X students. Three in every ten students failed in 2019 examination, which is consistent with last five years’ trend.
The results of the SSC exam, which were declared on Tuesday, reveal that this year, of the nearly 8 lakh students who took the examination, 2.61 lakh failed in science and technology while 2.49 lakh failed in mathematics. Interestingly, 2.27 lakh students passed the English exam this year; the subject is the second language for Gujarati-medium students,
Board officials said that these two subjects have contributed the most to boost the number of failed students since 2015. The officials said that mathematics papers of 2017 and 2018 recorded the highest failure rate while science came second on that count. But this year, science had the maximum number of students failing, while mathematics came second on that score.
Expert say that the majority of the students who failed are from rural areas and their teachers were not able to guide them properly. Moreover, these students were not able to get tuitions as their counterparts in cities did.
Subject experts said that the quality of textbooks is poor through class I to VIII and suddenly students are introduced to NCERT textbooks in class IX. This makes it difficult for them to cope with the advanced NCERT syllabus.
Fr Ferdinand Durai, the principal of St Xavier’s Gandhinagar, said: “The performance is poor in maths and science as the subjects were not given due importance. These subjects call for immense practice.”
Sr Jennifer, the principal of Mount Carmel Gandhinagar, said: “Rote learning to secure marks should be discouraged and students should be made to understand subjects.”
Indrani Banerjee, the principal of HBK School, said that maths and science papers were tricky and lengthy. Even the MCQ needed substantial time.