Grade inflation lowers educational standards
An audio clip doing the rounds in Kerala has stirred a much-needed discussion on the quality of school education in the state. In the clip, the director of general education, Shanavas S, can be heard decrying the practice of awarding liberal marks to increase the number of students getting A-plus grades in class 10 exams. He said, “Students who were even incapable of reading or writing properly were apparently awarded A-plus.” He also said that marks beyond 50 percent should be awarded purely on the basis of the candidate’s merit. Reminding others that there used to be a time when the state’s education standards were compared with those of top European countries, the director said Kerala was now bracketed with north Indian states like Bihar.
Barely hours after the audio of this address at a closed-door exam-related workshop became public, the government disowned the remarks. General education minister V Sivankutty clarified that it was not the “government’s stand”. Meanwhile, the opposition clamoured that the remarks showed the high success rate being projected was just aimed at earning credit for the government. The education minister denied the allegation and sought a detailed report from the director. The controversy has certainly created apprehension regarding the quality of the students passing out of the system. It is true that the number of students getting A-plus grades has sharply increased over the past decade. From a little over 2 percent of all students in 2013, the number of A-plus awardees jumped to around 17 percent in 2023.
If what the director said is correct, it does not augur well for the state’s education system or for the students getting those high grades. Grade inflation is not a solution for anything. It will only lead to undeserving students bagging slots in coveted courses, which will eventually lead to a devaluation of the higher education system. It would be ridiculous if the government thinks that pass percentages and the number of A-plus grades are an assessment of the government’s performance. The state government must come clean on the matter at the earliest. It is imperative to clear the anxiety over the quality of education offered in the state for the sake of its children’s future.