VIJAYAWADA: The State government has decided to reintroduce the system of awarding marks, instead of grades, to Class 10 students. Principal secretary B Rajasekhar on Friday, August 27, 2021, issued orders duly dispensing with the existing grading system from the SSC public examinations, March 2020 onwards for identification of merit and recruitment. Teachers and parents associations, however, expressed concerns over the latest move. State Teachers Union (STU) president Joseph Sudheer Babu told TNIE that the grading system was introduced by then government in 2010 to reduce the pressure on students.
The objective of introducing the grading system was to check the ‘greed’ of private institutions and prevent them from taking undue advantage of the marking system. “With the reintroduction of the mark system, the private educational institutions would be able to take undue advantage of the situation. It is highly inappropriate for the government to take unilateral decisions on the issue without consulting either parents or teacher,” he said and added they will meet with the educational minister to express their concerns and reason with him not to reintroduce the marks system.
Andhra Pradesh Patasala Parents Association secretary P Chandram wondered why the State government reintroduced the marks system. “Even though the government is claiming that reintroduction of marks will benefit the students and overcome the difficulties during admissions and recruitment, it will create pressure among them. We are appealing to the government to reconsider its decision to benefit the student community,” he said. Director of School Education V Chinna Veerabhadrudu submitted a proposal for awarding marks instead of grades, as difficulties are being faced for admissions since a large number of students are securing similar grades.