Goa: Educationists make case for Class X promotion on internal marks alone

PANAJI: The announcement of the Class X board exams being pushed further, to May 18, has alarmed the state’s educationists. They are worried about the adverse impact it can have on the psychology of the 15-year-olds waiting to answer the test. Some others pointed to the huge risk factor involved in conducting exams, despite the state being declared a green zone.
Two former chairpersons of Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education have made a case for only evaluating the students based on internal marks to finally relieve them of their stress.

Former state board chairman Jose Remedios Rebello said that uncertainty over the board exam schedule may push poor children out of the mainstream, while others may lose their motivation to excel at the test.
“This will create a psychological problem for students. These are young kids and will not know how to handle it. According to me, there is no need for Class X exam in Goa as there are more than sufficient Class XI seats, unlike in other states. Anyway 94% is our pass percentage. Only in the case of admission to polytechnic and similar programmes, an entrance test can be held. If some higher secondary schools want, they too can hold an entrance test for admissions,” Rebello said.
The Class X results can be prepared based on internal school evaluations, he said. “Earlier the board had carried out a three-year study, where it was found that some schools were evaluating students in line with the Goa board, while other institutes were simply allotting marks freely,” Rebello said.
Rebello said statisticians and technocrats need to be engaged by the state to carry out scaling of schools based on such data and accordingly students can be evaluated based on internal assessment marks. “I really feel sorry for the children. Children of migrant workers are really in a fix,” he said.
“You just imagine the climatic conditions in Goa during the probable period of examination. According to me, the board need not conduct the exam at all and the results could be declared on the basis of internal as well as preparatory exam conducted by the school. ,” former chairman of the state board P R Nadkarni said, taking to social media platforms. Both Rebello and Nadkarni said they have already conveyed their suggestions to officials of Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.
Meanwhile, headmaster Vithoba Dessai has written to the chief minister requesting him not to conduct the public exams this year.
“Around 20,000 Goan students were to answer the Class X exam. It is irrational to predict how long this lockdown would continue. Meanwhile, young children are under tremendous stress. This state of anxiety, fatigue, parental pressure, and mental turmoil has taken a toll on students mental health,” Dessai said. He said that as the state board is an autonomous body it is fully authorised to take a decision not to hold the public exams.