Moderation, grace marks to go on for school exams in Assam

IT WAS ALSO RECOMMENDED THAT UP TO 5 MARKS AS GRACE CAN BE GIVEN TO STUDENTS WHO FAIL TO REACH THE PASS MARK

Students passing out from Class X in Assam would continue to benefit from moderation in marks as well as grace marks, a committee formed by the state government has recommended.

The issue led to a controversy this month after education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma alleged that the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) manipulated marks in the high school leaving certification (HSLC) exam.

A committee comprising four vice-chancellors of universities in Assam was formed to suggest remedies.

The minister had alleged that SEBA used to consult the state government before declaring results and in some instances gave students as much as 40% more than their score.

“The committee found that moderation or normalization of marks was not done by SEBA as per statistical methods and established norms in other countries,” Sarma told journalists on Sunday.

The committee recommended that moderation in marks would continue as per established norms elsewhere, but only in instances when questions come from outside syllabus, discrepancies in electronic assessment of answer sheets, wrong usage of terminology in questions etc.

It was also recommended that up to 5 marks as grace can be given to students who fail to reach score 30 (the pass mark) in a particular subject----but only in three subjects.

Sarma said that SEBA used to give as much as 18 grace marks to show a higher pass percentage. He accepted that implementation of the recommendations could affect pass percentage.

Rejecting questions about confidentiality, the committee suggested SEBA issue notifications ahead of the declaration of results, mentioning how much marks were given as grace or moderation for a particular year.

“We have accepted the recommendations in totality and have sent the committee’s report to SEBA for compliance,” said Sarma.