Summary
The CBSE on Wednesday issued an advisory highlighting the need for ‘meticulous assessment during practical examinations’ in schools following the detection of ‘a significant variation’ between theory and practical marks of students
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has detected a “significant variation” between theory and practical marks in certain subjects among half of the students in around 500 schools, based on past years’ result statistics.
The CBSE on Wednesday issued an advisory highlighting the need for “meticulous assessment during practical examinations” in schools following the detection of “a significant variation” between theory and practical marks of students.
The advisory serves as a reminder to prioritise “fairness and accuracy in assessing practical examinations”, the board said in the advisory.
Practical examinations are conducted in Class XII.
For most of the subjects the practicals are conducted by an external examiner.
The practical examination consists of marking on a practical file prepared by a student and a viva.
Science students have to do experiments in front of the examiner.
“The Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) has detected, through advanced AI tools, a significant variation between theory and practical marks in certain subjects among 50 per cent or more students in about 500 CBSE-affiliated schools, based on past years’ result statistics,” the board said in the advisory.
“This variance highlights a need for meticulous assessment during practical examinations in schools,” the note said.
The board has issued an advisory to such schools to review their internal assessment procedures, it said.
“The aim is to implement a more robust, transparent, and reliable mechanism to ensure that the assessment process is realistic and adds substantial value to the students’ academic journey,” the board said.
It adds: “This advisory serves as a reminder to prioritise fairness and accuracy in assessing practical examinations, thereby enhancing the quality of education imparted in CBSE-affiliated institutions.”
Principals of several schools said there is a general tendency among examiners to award more marks than a candidate deserves.
“A student might be given a 17 out of 20 whereas he deserves a 13 or a 14,” a principal said.
Usually, the lowest marks awarded are 15 or 16 out of 20 and not many students get that, one principal said.
“Students are not marked very strictly in practical examination also because the theory examination can be that much more difficult, so teachers do try to pull up students,” said a principal of a CBSE school in south Calcutta.
A principal from another school said at times, parents question them as to why their students have not been awarded “full or high marks” in practical examinations, unlike other schools.
“There is a pressure to maintain parity with other schools. But the disparity between what a student gets and what he or she deserves is not huge,” said another principal.
Last updated on 06 Jun 2024
