KOCHI: After some anxious months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the cancellation of the CBSE Class XII board examinations. But a lack of clarity regarding the assessment method that will be used to declare the results has students and parents worried.
Apprehensions are rife that the practice of CBSE schools in the state of giving tough questions in model examinations in a bid to make the students prepare well for board exams might have backfired this time. K Udayakumar, parent of Class XII student Vignesh J Uday of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School at Eroor, Tripunithura, told TNIE that the Centre’s decision will not help the students when it comes to the prospects of their higher studies.
“It is a bad decision. It has been always seen that the students prepare hard in the last two months before the examinations and score high marks in the boards,” he said.Other parents too expressed similar worries. According to Usha Mathew, mother of a Class XII student in Kottayam, this decision might prove to be detrimental to the students.
“I was hoping the board examinations won’t be cancelled. If the board decides to go in for the criteria based on taking the average scores in exams of Classes IX, X and XI along with the model exams, the percentage of marks will be less even in case of a studious child,” she said.
According to Anita Ipe, mother of a Class XII student of Marian Senior Secondary School, Kottayam, these are really tough days for the students who are not only bogged down by the pandemic but also worried about their future with regard to entrance examinations.
For students, the cancellation of examinations came as a shock. According to Praveen Jacob, an ICSE Class XII student of Loyola School in Thiruvananthapuram, the exams should have been held since many students had prepared well. “We were ready to write examinations,” he said.Olivia Rose Joby, Class XII student of Ebenezer International Residential School, Kottayam, said, “As a student, I know how I had performed in my model and the examinations that I wrote when I was in Class IX, X and XI. The common mindset of the students like me is to do very well in the boards even if the scores in the models are not up to the mark.
Teachers had mixed reactions to the development. “It would have been very good if the examinations were conducted. It won’t be good to follow the criteria used for Class X. How can we assess students in Class XII by using the marks they obtained in Class IX and X? Ok, it might work for those who had opted for the Science stream. But what about those in the other streams?,” said Rajatha B, principal, Marian Senior Secondary School, Kottayam.
According to Sheela Santhosh, a teacher of a private CBSE school in Thiruvananthapuram, several students are unhappy with the decision. But Varghese Samuel, principal, St Thomas Central School in Thiruvananthapuram, said the cancellation of examinations will not affect the students largely.
Meanwhile, Sajith Thomas, chief career consultant, Careertestlive, said it has been seen that unlike in the model and other internal examinations, students have been seen to perform nearly 20 to 30 per cent better in the board examinations. Meanwhile, Indira Rajan, secretary-general, National Council for CBSE Schools, said, “As of now, no decision has been taken regarding the mode of assessment. But whatever decision the board takes will be with keeping in mind the future of the students.”