INDIAN parents, academicians and students in the Kingdom have expressed mixed reactions to news that the Indian Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal is considering scraping the Class 10 board exams. Mohammed Salabat Lodhi, managing committee member of the International Indian School Jeddah (IISJ), endorses the government's stand. “Students concentrate more on the marks than the means to acquire them. They tend to mug up the answers and doing so won't be of any help to them in the long run,” he said. Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal revealed last week that the government is considering scrapping the Class 10 boards and replacing them with a one-nation-one-board regime. Sibal also talked about taking steps towards reducing the pressure for students by introducing a grading system that would replace the present assessment procedure of marking. Syed Mohsin Iqbal, a parent says: “The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) no longer holds much value, and universities do not give admissions based on the marks obtained in Grade 10. Moreover, there is too much ambiguity in India with so many state boards. The establishment of a single board for the entire country will bring about uniformity.” He said that students having passed the board exams in Grade 10 tend to work less hard in Grades 11 and 12. “The Class 10 boards take the seriousness out of the Class 12 boards. When a child has cleared his Class 10 board exams, he believes he deserves some rest, which he takes in Class 11 that affects his future score. He might also consider the Class 12 boards easy keeping in mind his Class 10 exams,” Iqbal said. Disagreeing with Lodhi is Juveriya Khan, another former student of IISJ. “The standard of students can be assessed only through examinations. Admissions to various streams of higher education can be made only after an evaluation of the Class 10 board results. Moreover, if these evaluations are done internally, the students will have no idea about the boards. Appearing for the boards in Class 10 takes away the nervousness of appearing for the Grade 12 board exams which are very important,” said Khan. Ashrafunnisa, a teacher in the IISJ's girls' section, considers the government's plan to introduce a national level exam as a bid to “ward off favoritism, corruption, and paper leaks”. “Doing away with the board exams will sabotage the standards that have been maintained all these years. The Grade 10 board exams present an opportunity to students to express their mental ability to the best of their capacity besides developing a healthy competitive spirit amongst the peer group,” said Ashrafunnisa. Parents too are divided on the issue. “As a parent, I would definitely want the Grade 10 board exams to be discontinued as they cause immense stress for both the students and the parents, that can sometimes prove fatal, both in terms of the physiological and psychological development of the child,” said Sadiqa Tarannum, a parent and IISJ teacher. Over the years, board exams of Grade 10 and 12 have become a part and parcel of every Indian student's life. The results are not just mere results but are thought to be a mirror of the student's position in his class as well as in the society. Most students along with their parents face the pressure to perform, which often bogs the children down. Results of failure or a low percentage often lead to depression. Sadly, those who are unable to bear the stress seek the means to escape it. Cases of suicide after failing Class 10 boards are sometimes reported. Only last month, Priya Mudaliyar, an SSC student in Ahmedabad, committed suicide by hanging herself after failing her boards. It was her fourth attempt at clearing the exams. Sibal's plan to scrap Class 10 exams has been met with sharp reactions, not just from the Bhratiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left, but also from a section of the ruling Congress. The criticism from within the Congress is something to worry about as it can put the brakes on the attempts made by Sibal to bring about a change in the Indian education system. The opposition questions how Sibal could make such a statement without any consultation. They view his idea of having an all-India board for all the schools across the country as an ‘encroachment on the rights of the state' and something that would ‘lessen the country's diversity'. Farozan Warsi, vice principal of Al-Waha International School, said: “The implementation of the one-nation-one-board idea would revolutionize the Indian education system. A uniform curriculum in a country as diverse as India would ensure that the pedagogical standards applied across the nation would benefit each child in the same way, regardless of which part of India he/she comes from. Further, an accredited teachers' training institute can ensure that all educators apply the same standards for the delivery of this curriculum.” The CBSE has also formed an international committee to create a separate curriculum for schools outside India that are affiliated to the board. The committee is currently working on a curriculum that will be on a par with other international curricula, such as, the International Baccalaureate and Cambridge International Examinations.
