Lesser students for this year’s HS exams

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, March 12, 2007
Compared to 2006, there will be 26,000 students less taking the Higher Secondary (HS) exam this year. If the HS authorities are to be believed, then there is nothing to worry about the drop as it apparently proves the efficiency of the system!
This year 4,03,154 students are taking the exam. Though the number is 26,000 less than 2006, the HS officials are happy about it. In 2005-2006, 86.57 per cent of Madhyamik pass-outs registered themselves to take the HS exam. This year, 85.47 per cent of the registered candidates are taking the exam and both the figures are an all-time record for the HS exams.
“We have never seen such a huge percentage of Madhyamik pass-outs getting registered for HS and this is an all-time record,” said Debashish Sharkar, secretary of West Bengal Council for Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE).
Explaining why there were lesser students taking the exam, even after the percentage of registration and enrolment had gone up Sharkar said, “One big reason for this is that, from this year we are not allowing external candidates to take the exam and students for vocational courses are taking the exam through a separate vocational education council created for this purpose.”
Apart from this, the number of previously unsuccessful candidates and special candidates too has gone down drastically. In 2006 the pass percentage in HS was 71.82, which is an all-time high, and in 2005 the percentage was 67.56. And while in 2005, 28 per cent of the backlog candidates cleared the exam, the percentage further increased to 34.7 per cent in 2006. Currently, the HS exam has the lowest ever backlog to regular candidate ratio – 25:75, which was 40:60 in the 80s.
“With the pass rate increasing in the past two years, we have very few compartmental and special candidates this year. This goes on to show the efficiency of the system and explains how the revised syllabus has worked wonders for our students,” said Sharkar.
Apart from this, another reason for decrease in the number of students this year is the strict detention policy adopted by schools in Class-XI annual exams. “After we had split the syllabus for Classes XI & XII, the council had urged schools to promote only deserving students to Class-XII. Between 15,000 to 20,000 students have been detained through this process,” said Sharkar.
But though the number of students taking the exam has gone down, logistically the HS exam for this year will be the most complex. “While a good number of students will take the exam following the old syllabus and will have two exams a day, those taking the exam under the new syllabus will have only one exam every day. Besides, the Class-XI exams will begin on March 17 and will go on simultaneously. To avoid confusion, we are putting the question papers of all the three segments in separate colour envelopes,” said Gopa Dutta, president of WBCHSE.
While the students will be allowed to carry non-programmable calculators, mobile phones are banned inside the exam venue. There are 326 exam centres and 1,112 exam venues spread across the state.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com