Grading system fails to bring cheer

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced a new grading system for Class X students from the academic year 2009-10. The idea behind the proposed grading system was to minimise unnecessary pressure and classification among students on the basis of marks.

However on ground, CBSE’s grading system has failed to help students to reduce their tension. This year’s Class X batch will be the first to receive their results in grades. But surprisingly most of the Class X students and parents are asking for their results in marks and percentages.

According to many students and parents the grading system is not very helpful to them as the admission criteria for all junior colleges are still on the basis of percentages and not on the grades.

Ajay Verma, a student from a CBSE school while disclosing his concern said,

“Since I will be asked for aggregate scores for junior college admission, the grading system does not make much difference. I know that I will have to score over 85 percentages to get into a decent college.”

Many students have the same view as Ajay has. They think that grading system has not helped in lowering their exam stress. According to them the system is only useful for the students who fail in exams. Since the students would receive grades instead of marks based on their performance, no student would be reflected as failed in exams as per the grading system.

Parents have their concerns on the issue as well. Some parents feel that when all junior colleges are taking admissions on the basis of percentages, CBSE grading system is not very welcoming. They prefer results in marks which are important at the time of admission. The general feeling is that all the boards across the country should adopt a uniform basis for exam results such as the CBSE’s grading system. This would bring parity while seeking admissions for their wards in the junior colleges.

CBSE board has decided to provide subject wise percentages to students only on demand and that too only for the first few years.