The School Education Department has issued a government order detailing the methodology to calculate marks for Class 12 students of State board schools due to the cancellation of board exams. The G.O., issued by School Education Secretary Kakarla Usha, said a report submitted by an expert committee had stated that the methodology to arrive at subject-wise marks of the candidates should rest on two sets of guiding principles.
Under the first — transparency, non-arbitrariness and objectivity — the committee called for consistent past performances to set the benchmark upon which any extrapolation method is based, adding that there should be no subjectivity as far as the benchmarks are concerned.
Secondly, calling for fairness and equity, the committee said the opportunity structure that would have been available to students in pre-COVID-19 times should guide the scoring methodology. Schools have also been asked to factor in the parity between candidates studying in various streams.
The G.O. details the methodology for calculating marks for regular candidates who have subjects with practical components; regular candidates who are part of streams with non-practical subjects; and vocational groups having vocational practical subjects. This is based on a proposal submitted by the Directorate of Government Examinations(DGE), taking into consideration the announcement made by the Chief Minister for awarding marks and the recommendations of the expert committee constituted by the government.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said last month that 50% weightage would be given to the Class 10 public exam marks (average of the top three subjects); 20% to the Class 11 public exam theory marks; and 30% to the Class 12 practicals/internal marks for both practical and non-practical subject groups.
As announced earlier, the G.O. said the candidates who are not satisfied with their Class 12 marks on the basis of this assessment methodology could take the exams which will be conducted when the conditions are conducive. If a student opts to take these exams, the marks obtained will be considered final. The student will be expected to take all the exams, and no request relating to specific subjects will be entertained.
For private candidates, exams will be conducted by the DGE as and when the conditions become conducive.
