CHENNAI: Continuing on its major revamp in school education, the state government Thursday did done away with the practice of announcing state ranks in class 12 and 10 exams. The state board’s Plus-2 results which are due on Friday will not carry state or district ranks.
Speaking to reporters after a high-level committee meeting held here, the school education minister KA Sengottaiyan said, “The class 12 and 10 exam results will not have state or district ranks. This comes into effect immediately. The announcement of top three ranks creating depression among the students who get one or two marks less. To avoid the stress among the students and reduce the worry of the parents, the practice is being stopped immediately,”he explained.
Usually, the hype and tension around the results will be because of the ranks. Acting on the suggestions during the high-level meeting, the state government took the decision to do away with ranks. Currently, CBSE and a few other state boards are not announcing the state level ranks.
“We will take steps to give scholarships to the Tamil medium students who secure top marks,” Mr Sengottaiyan said. He also expressed hope that this move will be welcomed by parents and students alike. When asked about the move of making the plus-1 annual exam as board exam, the minister said it is under consideration.
School Education secretary T. Udhayachandran said, “The scholarships to students will be awarded on broader considerations. The students will be selected not by their marks alone, but their academic performance and special talents will also be counted.”
The state government also sought the proposal from the director of school education in this regard. Senior educationist S.S. Rajagopalan has welcomed the decision.
“It’s absolute nonsense to rank the students. Thousands of teachers are valuing the each subject. There will be differences in the evaluation of each teacher,” he said.
Hailing it as the most welcome step, educationist P.B. Prince Gajendrababu said, “It’s a starting point for various changes that we are expecting in school education ranging from syllabus up to evaluation.”
“It will do away the cut-throat competition for which the children are subjected to. Every child was seen as a competitor by another child. Now, the children will really enjoy learning and whatever they have learnt they will exhibit in the examination,” he said. He also expressed hope that it will reduce the number of students committing suicide this year.
