THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Continuing last year’s trend, more than half of CBSE and ICSE students in the state who cleared the Class X examination this year have migrated to the state Higher Secondary (HS) course.Of the 79,430 students who cleared the CBSE and ICSE Board exams, 40,085 secured admission in the state HS board this year. Last year, the figure was 41,105 students out of nearly 80,000 CBSE and ICSE students.
According to the Kerala CBSE School Management Association, anxiety on the part of the parents their wards would be at a disadvantage while seeking admission to undergraduate courses was a major reason behind the migration.“The lavish awarding of marks by the state HS board is primarily why students migrate to it in such large numbers. However, a sizeable number of parents realise continuing with the national boards, which lay more stress on quality, will only bode well for their wards in the long run,” said association secretary Indira Rajan.
The general perception the CBSE Class XII examination would be a tougher nut to crack for average students in comparison to the state HS board is attributed as another reason.
The state board lure
A student pursuing Plus Two from the state board can get up to 28 marks extra as ‘grace marks’ for participation in arts and sports competitions and activities of NCC and NSS. The marks are added to the total marks of the student and are not shown separately.For most students, securing the grace marks would mean being placed higher during admission to undergraduate courses in arts and science, which are in high demand following the deterioration in standards of professional courses like engineering.
State board’s take
Director in-charge, HS Education, Prakashan P P said the state board follows NCERT syllabus to equip students to take on any national entrance examination or course at any university in the country.
“No dilution of the national-level content takes place in the state syllabus. This has also made the switch from national board to state board easy as is evident from the large number of students seeking admission to schools following the state syllabus,” he said.