It’s Raining Percentages!

Gone are the days when First Division in Class X and 1XII was a cause for celebration and was considered a success. Congratulation messages flowed freely, families distributed sweets and parents proudly shared their wards’ feat. In fact, just a couple of decades ago, only above average and competent students were able to score First Division.

A 60% and above was counted as pretty decent, guaranteed a good seat in a leading college and the bearers went on to do well in their careers and life. Overall, First Divisions were celebrated, valued and ensured a quality education and good career in the future. And scoring 75% and above was considered a distinction.

Cut to the present. Just the other day I came across a student who was glum and teary after having scored 93% in Class X. “I could have scored much better. Many of my friends have scored 95 and above percentages. I don’t know where I went wrong,” the young student said, inconsolable at her ‘disappointing’ results. Her parents too bore grim expressions and seemed dissatisfied. Likewise, I came across a few other parents of children scoring in the 90s who held similar views, wondering where they went wrong. And for those students who had scored in the 80s, there seemed to be a pall of gloom and despondency in their hearts and among their families.

Time was when only the best in a batch used to score First Divisions in Class X and XII boards and the marks were the basis of admission to good colleges. But no longer. Currently, with almost 90% of students in Class X boards scoring first divisions and most students taking provisional admission in schools basis their entrance exam scores, the soaring percentages seem to have somehow lost their sheen and value.

The number of high scorers continues to rise in the CBSE Class X and XII exams. This year, for example, 64,908 candidates (3.10%) of all candidates in Class X have scored 95% and above. Similarly, 2,36,993 candidates (11.32%) of the candidates have scored 90% and above. This is up from 2,00,962 candidates or 9.58% last year. Likewise in Class XII boards, a whopping 1.34 lakh students scored 90% and above while more than 33,000 scored 95% and above this year.

Sample this too: The two CBSE Class 10 toppers scored a whopping 100% which means the student scored 100 marks in every subject. The same is the case with the two CBSE Class XII toppers who have scored 100% each. Toppers of the CISCE boards are a close second with 99.75%  Earlier, Maths and Science were the only two subjects in which a student could score 100% but now the students have become smart enough to score cent per cent in all subjects!

But despite a large number of students scoring more than 90%, not many actually seem to be happy or satisfied with their rising numbers (if one considers it as a mark of success that is). The achievement is truly savoured and valued only if one’s percentage hovers around 95% and above. Or else, for students, parents and teachers, one has not worked hard enough.

Also, in contrast, some also feel that not all those attaining percentages in the 90s are deserving of it. Rather, they seem to be the beneficiaries of a moderate marking system in practice over the last few years. There have also been accusations of randomly falsifying and spiking marks in the board exams.

The trend of awarding high percentages which began a few years back is now prevalent across all boards in India. What started as a trend with the CBSE board in the name of ‘moderation’ has now extended to ICSE and the State boards as well. Since marks soared for CBSE and ICSE boards, state boards followed suit to make sure that their students too scored high marks and got admission to top colleges. Subsequently, the exercise of providing liberal and grace marks to Class X and XII students to pass has now gradually morphed into a practice.

So much so that it’s not uncommon for students to score cent per cent marks in even subjects like English, Hindi, History, Economics etc. Time was when very few were able to score full marks in Maths and rarely in Science subjects, but no longer.

The year of the COVID Pandemic, 2020, was another year where students were awarded marks based on their best performances in three subjects only. Their results were declared based on performance in the appeared subjects and performance in internal/practical project assessment which again spiked the numbers.

Moreover, in the ongoing evaluation system, the pattern tends to veer more towards the objective type of questions, which help students to score full marks with schools and coaching classes prepping students to get used to such patterns. In addition, the standardisation of exams means the question paper is set in a manner to make it easy for all categories of students and the marking is liberal ensuring that a very low percentage of students fail the exam. Thus, marks are bound to increase. Nowadays, education seems to be tilted more towards scoring good marks than learning about the subject.

Although a high score boosts students’ morale and is rewarding, its importance ceases when it doesn’t help them further in either enhancing their knowledge or securing a place in a good college. Further, as the cut-off percentage increases, so does the pressure on students. While the ‘high scorers’ struggle to get admissions in their preferred colleges and subjects, the 70-80 percenters are literally left out of the race with little chance of joining top colleges and desired subjects. With the system becoming more and more competitive with each passing day, average students and their parents face the worst brunt trying to keep up with the increasing grades. With more and more students scoring more than 90%, expectations among parents have shifted the new goal post for their children to 95% and above.

What’s more, none of the best colleges lowers their cut-offs beyond 90% for sought-after courses leaving little scope for those who score less than that. The 70-80 percenters (who were earlier considered to be bright) can’t even think of entering the competition now on the basis of marks alone.

However, from this year onwards, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to hold a mandatory Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate admissions to centrally funded universities from the upcoming academic year. This means that Class XII board results will be superseded for getting under-graduate admission in favour of an all-India exam.

A mark sheet is no longer the sole determinant of one’s performance, intelligence and competency. On the other hand, the high scores and spikes in marks in Class X and XII boards definitely put a question mark on the credibility, reliability and validity of our education, examination and evaluation systems. While no one should be deprived of a good education, at the same time the quality and authenticity of education are equally important.

Besides creating a false sense of confidence among the students, inflated scores defeat the true purpose of education, that of enhancing knowledge and critical thinking. As parents, teachers, educationists and students, it’s time to do a volte-face