KOCHI: Last year, the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) made a focus area covering only around 40 per cent of the syllabus and giving more optional questions as compared to previous years. Eventually, the number of kids who earned full A+ in class 10 was so high that Plus-One admission suffered.
The state government, especially the education department, had to bear the brunt. They were ridiculed for the liberal evaluation. Many sought a revaluation to reduce the number of top performers.
To resolve this problem this year, the SCERT has made changes to the focus area. The board reduced it from 100 to 70 per cent, and the questions coming from the rest of the 30%portions will not be multiple choice.
In effect, even if a student answers all the questions from the focus area correctly, they will score only 70 per cent of marks.
Update came late
The teachers’ organisations are protesting the delayed announcement of the new examination rules. They met the education minister and secretary to express concern. The announcement came only a week ago and preparing students for examinations in such a short notice is very tough, say teachers. Arun Kumar R, who works at Madhava Vilasam Higher Secondary School near Karyavattom in Thiruvananthapuram, said had the announcement been made earlier, the teachers would have made maximum effort to clear portions fast.
Arun is the state president of Aided Higher Secondary Teachers Association (AHSTA). Parents are equally worried about the late announcement. “As such, the hybrid classroom style has been hard for kids to adjust to. Now they are concerned about incomplete portions. More than students, parents like us are worried,” said Rajani Baby, parent of a class 10 student at Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School.