Schools asked to explain poor results in HSC exam

Bhubaneswar: To fix accountability for poor performance of schools in the Class X board exam, the school and mass education department has sought explanation from over 1,500 high schools with low results.
Notice has been issued to them as over 40% students have secured less than 30% marks in each school.
Headmasters of schools have been asked to give explanation within two weeks. Besides, information on a range of points have also been asked like students’ learning abilities, standard of teachers and school infrastructure, said a senior officer in the school and mass education department.
The department is preparing a detailed school-wise database based on the performance of children in the matric examination, he said.
Official sources said while 82 schools in the state have scored nil in the class X boards this year, in over 1,400 schools, students failed in one or more subjects. School and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash had told that he would personally visit the schools with nil results and find out the reason behind the poor performance.
This year, as many as 5,87,720 students took the annual high school certificate examination of whom 3,97,125 students cleared the exam with a pass percentage of 70.78. Among the passed out students around 1, 22,062 have secured less than 40% marks.
According to an official, the no detention policy up to Class VIII is one of the reasons for a large number of students scoring low marks in matric exam. “Due to the no fail policy till Class VIII according to the Right to Education Act, there has been a drop in quality and in higher classes students face difficulties in grasping subjects leading to low scores,” said Rajanikant Rout, a retired schoolteacher.
The state government is planning to conduct an assessment test of students in the beginning of Class IX so that more focus can be given on weaker students by taking remedial measures and conducting extra classes for them. The assessment test will be conducted for mathematics, English and science subjects. Those who score less than 50% in the test will have to attend extra or remedial classes before the start of the session, the officer said.
The parent-teacher meeting will be conducted every 45 days instead of every six months.