CBSE fails the test

Marks moderation policy must go

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) finds itself at the centre of yet another mess that is entirely of its own making. What started out as an attempt to “reform” the way students were marked in Class 12 board examinations across the country has ended up creating uncertainty for close to 15 million students whose results have been delayed this year. The central issue is the proposed discontinuation of the so-called marks moderation policy used by central and state education boards. Until March this year, education boards used to artificially bump up the academic scores of students. The concept of moderation was evolved – the CBSE adopted this practice in 1992 – to prevent any disadvantage to a section of students due to varying levels or inadequacy in the exam system. Instead, it became a source of unfair competition among school boards. 

Not surprisingly, this policy has over time resulted in individual boards jacking up the marks of students to show rising educational achievements, especially pass percentages. This trend, in turn, fed into impossibly high percentages and farcical cut-offs in university admissions. According to one report, between 2008 and 2014, the proportion of students scoring 95 per cent and above in the Class 12 examination conducted by the CBSE swelled by 23 times even as several Delhi University colleges ended up having cut-offs in excess of 100 per cent. Far from showing academic excellence, these trends pointed to an education setup bereft of any credibility.

Then, in April this year, a full month after the board examinations had been completed, the CBSE and over 30 other boards, in the presence of the Union school education secretary, passed a resolution to give up the moderation policy. Some boards complied with the decision and almost immediately the pass percentages plummeted, showing how faulty this policy was to begin with. For instance, the pass percentage in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) fell by 15 per cent over last year. Fearing that some of the other boards might not comply with the resolution after this, and thereby create a positive bias for their students, the CBSE even made a bizarre request to the Delhi University to award “appropriate weightage” to CBSE students during admission, which starts in June, so that they do not lose out to candidates from other state boards that may not keep their part of the bargain. Thankfully, this request was rejected.

To make matters even more ridiculous, the Delhi High Court this week ordered the CBSE to continue the moderation policy. There is merit in the argument that since there was not enough time, repealing the marks moderation policy would be unfair to the students who would lose out for no fault of theirs. The court is asking this repeal to be enforced from the next academic year. Regardless of the end result – the CBSE is likely to approach the Supreme Court – the fact of the matter is that this episode shows how public school education in India has failed her children. Repeated international surveys – for instance, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) – have shown how Indian school students lag their counterparts in learning aptitude tests. Teachers and policymakers must reflect who they are fooling when they allow shortcuts such as arbitrarily increasing academic scores.