KOCHI: As candidates gear up for this year’s Kerala Engineering, Architecture, and Medical (KEAM) entrance exam, to be held from April 24-28, the issue of standardisation continues to haunt those who have cleared their qualifying exam from schools under the state’s general education department. Students allege that the standardisation process has hit them badly. In the 2024 KEAM, Plus Two students from state schools lost as much as 27 marks.
One of their grievances has been the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) Kerala persisting with a formula that was arrived at 10 years ago by an expert committee constituted pursuant to a petition filed by CBSE and ICSE students.
According to a teacher who didn’t want to be named, CBSE and ICSE students, in their petition, contended that the decision to prepare the rank list with equal weight accorded to grades obtained in the entrance and qualifying examinations was hurting their rankings.
“The decision to give equal weighting to entrance and qualifying marks was made in a GO in 2011. The decision was arrived to curb the dependence on entrance coaching centres,” the teacher said.
But, as to how the expert committee arrived at the standardisation formula has not been made known, a school principal said on condition of anonymity.
“The entrance examinations held during and after covid saw Plus Two students losing out badly. While CBSE and other boards of education cancelled their board exams and awarded their students grades based on assessments held in previous years, the Kerala education department held proper exams. But, even that year, Plus Two students who appeared for KEAM were at a disadvantage,” he said.
The standardisation system remains in place even as CBSE students now get marks on par with Plus Two students, the principal alleged. But there is no one to raise a voice against this injustice being committed against state board students, he added.
“Everyone, including students’ organisations in the state, remains mum. Last year, Plus Two students lost as much as 27 marks while CBSE students saw their marks increase by eight. It was said, in an explanation note, furnished on the CEE website that the process of normalisation of marks will not affect the marks of students from the Kerala higher secondary stream.
This resulted in state board students losing out on 35 marks. No one need to explain what the loss of 35 marks can do to the rank of students in an entrance exam. And they speak of how Plus Two students are faring poorly in KEAM!” said the teacher.
Questions on how two boards that follow different grading systems can clubbed together under the pretext of standardisation are being asked. “Currently, when CBSE students are getting marks on par with Kerala students, the formula is still being applied.
The education department should conduct a proper study and then arrive at a formula that doesn’t prove to be detrimental to the Kerala students,” said the principal.
However, according to Saji Gopinath, former VC Digital University, who was a member of the first expert committee, the standardisation formula was arrived at after a proper study. “It is based on a globally accepted formula. This formula is followed by all international universities that admit students from around the world,” he said.