As many as 2,01,627 students failed the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations, results of which were announced by Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana recently. Though the minister attributed the reason behind this dismal performance to the ongoing COVID pandemic, there are more than one reason behind it.
It may be recalled that this year the pass percentage was at its lowest among SSC students in the past 20 years.
From 11 papers, the change in examination pattern led to just seven papers, minus any objective-type questions. Many teacher's unions, parents and students shared that students had to write for 100 marks in three hours and grace time was just 15 minutes as opposed to the two and a half hours they were given earlier for 50 marks. Also, objective questions weighing 15 marks were removed this time.
Looking at what went wrong
As per students, from 225-230, the working days in the 2021-2022 academic year were reduced to just 175, which squeezes their preparation time as well. One teacher revealed how a few subheadings were decreased instead of chapters and hence, the decrease in the syllabus was inadequate. This led to additional stress to complete the syllabus.
Another reason is the exam pattern. Earlier, 11 examinations would be conducted over 11 days, excluding holidays, while this time, seven exams were conducted in seven days at a stretch. Plus exams were conducted for 100 marks each compared to 50 marks, as was the case earlier. Earlier, two and a half hours for each subject meant five hours for one subject over two days, this year, it was three hours for 100 marks plus 15 minutes for reading the question paper.
Earlier, students had to attempt only 14 questions for 35 marks in each paper with four essay-type questions with choices in all three sections. But in the 2022 SSC exams, students had to face 33 questions with a choice of five questions only with eight marks each in Section IV. There is no choice in the other three sections
The Social Studies paper was particularly tough. The four marks questions numbers 22, 25, and 26 of Section III and questions numbers 30 and 31 of Section IV were very difficult, which lead to the highest number of failures in Social Studies.
Students were infected with COVID, a few were even infected with dengue simultaneously, which made things tougher for them.
Hear it from them
A student from ZP High School, Ramannagudem, Krishna district who failed in Mathematics lamented that three hours are insufficient to face all 33 questions, leading to her failure. She also said that in other subjects, they had to answer nearly 13 essay type questions along with other questions.
AP Private Schools Association (APPSA) State President from Machilipatnam, Komaragiri Chandra Shekar Rao, said that the decision of conducting the examinations was not proper in manner. He alleged that the government has to take the mental efficiency of the students into consideration while changing the pattern of the exam. He expressed dissatisfaction with paper leakage and topmost marks secured by the students at some places.
A Senior Government Teacher in Mathematics, I Sudha from the Nellore district stated that the students forgot Mathematics during the pandemic hence, they started teaching them from basics, as a result, a minimum result was secured. She opined that if the Mathematics paper was conducted in two papers like Science, a few more students would have passed.
Show some grace
A parent from Guntur, K Vasantha Kumari stated that her son, Sunjan Roy, failed in Science by getting only one mark less than the pass mark. She appealed to the government to allocate grace marks as her son would lose one academic year.
Another parent SK Sanavullah said that their son SK Wasim Fakheer Ahmed studied in a private school in Guntur and failed in Science as he fell short of just two marks. He lamented that their son faced several health issues during the COVID pandemic and it impacted his studies and asked the government for grace marks.
A private school headmaster and APPSA Treasurer, Mekala Ravindrababu stated that the government has to show mercy on the SSC students and change the pattern and syllabus for the supplementary exams as time is running out. He also appealed to the government to allow private schools to conduct special classes for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 SSC students.
