Changing trend: CBSE rules 90% club, state falling behind

Nagpur: If one goes by statistics alone, students of Std X have a much higher chance of scoring 90%-plus if they are enrolled in a CBSE school rather than a state board affiliated institute. The ever increasing gap between CBSE and state board’s 90% plus scorers in Std X got amplified this year because of dismal SSC results. With only 28,000 odd SSC students joining the 90% club, against 2 lakh plus from CBSE, many state board academicians are questioning the evaluation practices of the central board.
Ashok Gavhankar, a moderator of the board exam paper checking process in Nagpur, feels students have the upper hand in CBSE schools. “I suspect that CBSE board exam evaluators mark the papers leniently and prop up the marks even if the student does not deserve it. Even if a few steps are correct, the CBSE valuators must be giving full marks whereas we go strictly by the model answer paper. In SSC, students have to write all key sentences mentioned in the model answer paper and only then will marks be given to them,” said Gavhankar.
While not agreeing at all about the ‘lenient’ statement, CBSE principals say students are not penalized for minor errors. Reena Dargan, a senior CBSE academician, said, “We too have a model answer paper in which keywords are mentioned. If students write those keywords, then they will definitely score marks, but teachers don’t cut marks if say a minor spelling error is noticed or a ‘comma’ or a ‘full stop’ is not there.”
She added that CBSE follows strict evaluation process and holds regular workshops on how the evaluation is to be done. “Across the country, you will find uniformity in the way evaluation is done for CBSE board exams,” she said.
Principal of a Marathi medium school on Kamptee Road said, “In our Marathi medium schools, we cater to extremely poor families from slums. Their parents are illiterate and are unable to help in homework. Many times, some of these students work at food stalls in evening to lend a helping hand. CBSE students live a comfortable life wherein they only have to worry about studies. Hence, it is not a surprise that they have more 90% plus scorers.”
State board officials agree that an academic-friendly environment may not be present at home. Anil Pardhi, divisional board chairman (Amravati), said, “Almost 50% of our students come from families with limited financial means due to which the conducive environment is not present for a student to focus solely on studies. This also creates lack of awareness on how one should study and increase their marks. So, it’s only the atmosphere we are talking, because I do not believe that academic intelligence has nothing to do with economic status.”