KOCHI: In an effort to end the ongoing debate on discrimination between State Board and CBSE students, the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) will discuss the process of normalising marks at the meeting scheduled to be held in mid-November.
“A possible outcome of the meeting is a uniform design for evaluating Plus-I and Plus-II students without ‘discrimination’ - irrespective of the board under which they study. A request for the same will be submitted at the meeting,” said CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi here on Friday.
“We plan to suggest a common question paper design. The COBSE has worked out a plan for the Plus-I course, as a baby step. The Board is only a voluntary association, and can only discuss it,” said Joshi.
Engineering ranks are prepared considering the marks obtained both in the entrance examination and the Plus-II course, in equal proportion. According to the CBSE managements, the State Board students usually score better due to the ‘lenient evaluation’, and are far ahead of the CBSE students who score lesser due to strict evaluation. Normalisation is a process devised to compare the marks of the State Higher Secondary Board with that of the Central Board.
Even though a certain number is given as weightage, there have been complaints that it does not diminish the difference completely. The debate on whether the normalisation process is fair, or not,has been going on for sometime now. “By ensuring such uniformity, the normalisation issue would be addressed to some extent. When the design is common, there is a scope of marking same way. Although difficult, it is scientifically possible,” he said.
‘States Can intervene in School affAirs’
Responding to whether the state could interfere in matters related to CBSE schools, Vineeth Joshi said, “I don’t see it as a conflict between the state and the Centre. States have a role in education. Irrespective of under which boards the students study, they are students of the state,” he said. “The RTE says that every school has to be recognised by the state. Therefore, under the Act, the state can intervene,” he added. The Kerala CBSE School Managements’ Association had recently submitted a memorandum to the HRD Minister, asking the state to stop intervening in matters related to CBSE schools, which come under the Centre.