Lesser Marks OK in Some Govt Schools

The New Indian Express: Coimbatore: Monday, November 17, 2014.

An RTI query has brought to light that in Chennai the minimum pass mark required for a plus-one student in a government school is 10-20, and 40-60 for those in aided schools.

Speaking to Express, School Education Minister K C Veeramani said he was not aware of such a practice and clarified that 35 per cent was the minimum eligibility criterion set by the government for all school students.

Chennai-based advocate D Muthuarasan filed the RTI query with the Department of School Education last year seeking details about the minimum marks required for plus-one students in Chennai.

Speaking to Express, Muthuarasan said officials did not respond to his request within 30 days and when he decided to approach the Information Commissioner, around 40 schools in the city replied by giving data for the year 2012-13. 

According to the information, the minimum eligibility criterion for plus-one students in government schools for Maths varied between 10 and 20 out of 200, which is barely 5-10 per cent of the total score. For Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Biology (Botany & Zoology), and Geography, it was between 10 and 25 out of 150 i.e., 6.6 - 16.6 per cent. 

At the same time, the minimum eligibility criterion for government-aided schools ranged from 40 to 60 (20-30 per cent) which was also below the government recommendation of 35 per cent.

Educationist Prince Gajendra Babu said as far as private schools were concerned, they never give importance to plus-one as they start preparing students for HSC exams right from January. “The staff councils can apply the specified norm till Class 8 but not for higher secondary classes. It is a mistake equivalent to that committed by private schools. Minimising the eligibility criteria for the sake of statistics to avoid scrutiny and memos can never be accepted”, he said.

“How is it possible for a student to apply concepts of differential calculus in plus-two without understanding its  basics in plus-one and similarly without understanding anatomy basics how will he study physiology in plus-two,” he wondered.