Madras High Court to education secretary: consult experts on class 11 marks

Chennai: The Madras High Court has directed the School Education Secretary to consider and take a decision upon consultation with experts in the field, including academicians, teachers and students, on a representation, which sought a direction not to consider the 11th standard marks while calculating the passing out marks for college admissions.

The First Bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose gave the directive while disposing of a PIL from advocate S. Parimalam, which sought to quash a government order dated May 22, 2017.
In his petition, Parimalam submitted that the government has passed an order, whereby the Director of Government Examinations should conduct a common public examination for 11th and 12th standard and while calculating the higher secondary examination passing out marks, the 11th standard marks will also be taken into consideration.

The Director of Government Examinations has changed the exam pattern, marks for each subject (practical and theory), mark weightage and total marks.

The first year of higher secondary education serves as a very important step in the life of any student, he added.

The authorities have a fancy tag that the system was adjusted to make it on par with CBSE. But the same was just a travesty.

The CBSE does not take into consideration the marks obtained in 11th standard, he pointed out.