Will try to omit internal marks of other boards: Vinod Tawde 

Pune: Considering the growing tension among the students, who have recently passed Std X examination under the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education and their parents, the State Education Minister Vinod Tawde has said that the government will put in a request to see if the internal marks of the students of other boards could be subtracted from their total scores while seeking admissions for the Class XI (FYJC) courses in the State.

The statement comes after the State Government and the Maharashtra State Board received flak for the lower percentages scored by the students and an overall decrease in the pass percentage in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination this year. The students of other boards such as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) have come out with flying colours, even this time.

The reason behind the low passing percentage has been attributed to the changed pattern of question papers and the removal of the internal marking system. This time, instead of the normal question papers, the students answered ‘action sheets’ that were more of a practical and subjective nature. Also, apart from science and mathematics, no other subjects had 20 internal marks. The students answered written examinations of 100 marks each.

“We will try to request the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to see if the internal marks could be subtracted from the scores of the CBSE and other students, only while seeking admissions for the FYJC courses,” Tawde said in Mumbai.

Experts and principals have long predicted that while the number of the students from the other boards is much lower as compared to those of the State Board, the competition for the premier and more popular institutes will be comparatively tougher for the SSC students.

However, parents and activists have expressed displeasure over the statement by the minister.

“The education minister of Maharashtra says that for CBSE and ICSE students, the internal marks (oral exam) and marks obtained in sports and other extracurricular activities will not be added at the time of taking admissions in colleges. He cannot interfere so much in the administration of the CBSE and the ICSE and other board schools. He cannot frame policies which are not in public interest. We oppose this move which is unconstitutional and anti-parent,” said activist Anubha Sahai of the India Wide Parent Association.

“It is time that the Education Department of Maharashtra introspects and finds out its own flaws, rather than making the students of other boards suffer,” said another parent on a condition of anonymity.

Sahai added that the Association will be writing to the MHRD to press for the need of uniformity in the evaluation process across the country to avoid such instances.