Class 10 assessment: The hurdles ahead

Class 10 state board exams cancelled on April 20; experts say need a mechanism to identify, fix possible inflation of scores

MUMBAI: A few days after the state government cancelled Class 10 (SSC) exams in the state, the education department is weighing in all its options to draw up a fair marking criterion for students. With the academic future of nearly 17 lakh students at stake, the government needs to first address all the challenges concerning the options that are being considered in place of physical exams.

Cancellation of exams

On April 20, the state government following a cabinet meeting decided to cancel Class 10 state board exams owing to rise in Covid-19 cases and resultant lockdown. State education minister Varsha Gaikwad announced that students will be marked based on internal assessments. Since then, the state education department has held numerous consultation meetings with various stakeholders including schools, teachers, parents, educationists and technology firms to assess and understand feasible ways of marking students.

Future challenges

Some suggestions that were discussed in a few of these meetings included promoting all students, conducting entrance tests for junior college admissions, marking students based on internal exams, marking students based on their cumulative performance of two-three years etc.

Experts who have been a part of these discussions said that while the specifics of each of these options can be worked out later, what also needs to be looked into is the challenges they are likely to pose in future.

“For instance, if we promote all students without giving them scores, these students might get a college seat because the state will look into it. But they might have problems when they apply for a job, for instance, where the requirement is 50% pass marks in Class 10 exams,” said an expert on the condition of anonymity.

Assessment mechanism While the education department is mulling the use of scores of internal assessments, experts said there needs to be a mechanism in place to identify and fix the possible inflation of scores. “Schools are likely to inflate marks when it’s left up to them. Hence, it will be better if their inputs are compared with data from the board over the years. For instance, if the number of distinction holders in a school has always been 10% of the total students and this year the number goes up to 20 or 30%, then that deviation can be caught and identified,” said an official.

Experts also said that the government needs to ensure that the solution that it comes up with is fair. “Conducting an entrance exam, for instance, will be unfair because students have not been informed about this in advance. Also, there are various questions about who will set the papers, what the syllabus for these exams will be etc. which will add to the anxiety of students,” said Basanti Roy, former secretary of the Mumbai divisional board.

Challenge of equivalence Rizwana Shaikh, a teacher from a government-aided school in Mumbai said, “The government needs to strike a right balance between equivalence and assessing the child’s performance in the best possible way at the moment. Our students should not lag behind their counterparts from other boards during admissions.”

Officials from the education department said they are awaiting the assessment criteria from CBSE and ICSE before they can finalise their own. This year, the CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE and IB have all decided to cancel physical exams and go with internal assessments and predicted grades for Class 10 students.