Board’s grace: 35,000 students in Gujarat pass with flailing colours

AHMEDABAD: The results of Class 12 general stream exams announced on Saturday show that as many as 34,000 of the 4 lakh regular students struggled to score even 40%.
The D grade is given to students who score between 33% and 40%. This year, 28,690 students received Grade D compared to 4,372 students last year, a sevenfold jump, said sources.

Moreover, the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) had to give grace marks up to 130 per student in some cases to ensure that they cleared Class 12.
After cancelling the Class 12 exams this year due to the Covid-19 situation, the state education department worked out a marks tabulation criteria for evaluating the performance of students. Not a single student was to be failed, in line with the government’s decision to give mass promotion to all regular school students this year.
“Last year about 4,000 students were able to clear Class 12 with less than 40% exam result. This did not include the students who failed,” said an Ahmedabad-based academic expert. “However, a large number of students were given grace marks this year to make them eligible for mass promotion. That reflects the sorry state of affairs in the education system.”