Class IX results of students who failed Class X exams to be verified

The order will be applicable to regular students in government schools across the state. Candidates who have appeared through Gujarat State Open School Society (GSOS) will be exempted from this verification. As per the records,in the 2013 Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) results,2,11,367 out of the total 7,79,367 regular candidates,who appeared for the examinations,were declared as not qualified for the pass certificate. Though this includes students of private schools as well,the authorities are estimating a considerable share of them being from government schools.

“In the preliminary inquiry,it was revealed that a few students with worse scores in Class X state board examinations have scored more than 80 per cent marks in Class IX internal examinations. Thus,it was decided to go back and check school records of those students who could not clear their Class X. If necessary,even their Class VIII records will be pulled up and verified,” said Commissioner of Schools C V Som.

Based on these comparisons,if stark differences in results are found,the teachers under whom these students had cleared the internal examination will be questioned and reprimanded. Directions for implementation of this order have been recently issued by the Education Department to all 27 District Education Officers (DEOs) in the state.

This move will result in government senior secondary teachers to further lose sleep,following the recent reprimand of several teachers who were sent out of their home districts as punishment postings. Some of them also lost out on five increments because of poor results in the students’ board examination. Nearly 50 government senior secondary school teachers across the state were transferred and their increments suspended after being served showcause notices.

Although Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) Chairman RR Varsani denied any role of the state board in this decision,he said, “The Education Department is trying to improve the standard of government schools in Gujarat. This could be one of the possible steps in this direction.”

The move also raised questions on the decision of the state government of doing away with the marks and replacing it with grading system in Class X and XII by the state government in 2011. The new evaluation system was aimed at de-stressing students by removing fear of external board examinations.

With an overall pass percentage of 65.12 per cent this year,SSC results witnessed a decline of 4 per cent. In 2012,the pass percentage was 68.10,while it was 71.06 in the first year of implementation of grading system. This was the record highest pass percentage since 1992.

Furthermore,this time there was a considerable increase in students who have secured between 51 to 70 marks,but a sharp decline of more than 50 per cent in students scoring between 91-100 marks.