Even after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared the Board exam results for Classes X and XII on July 22, the uproar over how much weightage should each term get refuses to die down. It is now the Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangha (OAM), a parents’ body of the state, which has written to CBSE demanding that a 50:50 weightage for Terms I and II of the exam should be considered for awarding marks to the students. They have claimed that many students are not satisfied with their obtained marks.
This year, the CBSE Board exams for both Classes X and XII were held in two terms, I and II. CBSE awarded the marks based on weightage criteria which allowed 30% weightage for Term I and 70% weightage for Term II. The results were declared on July 22, Friday.
“Many students are aggrieved that they didn’t score well in the Board exams. So, we have approached CBSE to consider a 50:50 weightage for these students. We have already submitted an application at the CBSE regional office (in Bhubaneswar) to the Chairman,” said Basudev Bhatta, Chairman, OAM.
Similar sentiments were echoed by the All India JEE NEET Students Association (AIJNSA) whose President Himanshu Borah took to Twitter to express dismay over the same situation. “Majority of students are unhappy with the weightage system that has been taken into consideration. The Board has done injustice to lakhs of students. #CBSEResults #CBSEstudentsWantJustice” he wrote, a day after the results were declared.
Multiple circulars
“On July 5, 2021, CBSE issued a circular stating that it would consider a 50:50 weightage for both Terms I and II. After Term I, around the first week of April, there was a notice doing rounds on social media as well as on news portals, reading that CBSE would consider a 30:70 weightage for Terms I and II respectively. However, on April 5, in a tweet, CBSE stated that the 30:70 notice was fake. On July 22, CBSE issued another circular around the time of result declaration that, indeed, 30% weightage has been considered for Term I and 70% weightage for Term II. Now, this is absolutely unfair. CBSE cannot consider this kind of a weightage after its declaration,” Bhatta said.
It may be noted that CBSE issued the July 22 circular at the time when the Class XII Board exam results were declared. The circular informed about the marking scheme and stated that the Class XII results were ready for declaration.
In its letter to the CBSE Chairman, OAM has urged that the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan should intervene in the matter, review the issued circulars by CBSE and then take appropriate action. The association has sent a copy of the letter to the Education Minister.
“Students had around eight months to prepare for Term I and only four to prepare for Term II. Many couldn’t score well. It is alright for those who are satisfied with their marks. But we have written to CBSE to consider revising the weightage criteria for the aggrieved students, who are not satisfied with their marks. We demand that they should devise a process for these students to be able to apply and opt for changing their marking criteria,” Bhatta explained.
“Today (July 25), a delegation from our association met the CBSE Chairman and submitted an official memorandum at 3 pm," he informed.
