Photocopies expose markdowns

Manash Gohain





The errors in the CBSE Class XII answer sheets go beyond adding mistakes. TOI gave the scripts to teachers who pointed out glaring inconsistencies in scoring marks 

 

A Class XII student scored 90s in his elective subjects, but only 58 in English in the CBSE board exams. TOI, a copy of the English answer script in hand, consulted three teachers independently, all of whom declared the student could not have got anything less than 80 even under “strict“ evaluation. The student had asked for verification of marks, but it had yielded nothing. Had he not asked for the photocopy of his answer sheet, this discrepancy would not have been revealed.

 

In a similar case, the photocopy of a political science answer script showed that the examiner had marked three answers as correct but given zero for each.These testify that all is not well with the evaluation process of the Central Board of Secondary Education.

On June 28, the education board restricted re-evaluation to 12 subjects and a maximum of 10 questions per subject, an order that Delhi high court reversed on Thursday following a plea filed by four students against it. The court's verdict was a relief for parents like Shalini Sundriyal, whose daughter scored 91 in English, 99 in economics, 89 in psychology and 62 in political science. Though she asked for verification and a copy of the political science answer sheet, she could not opt for re-evaluation because the subject was not included among the 12 mentioned in CBSE's notice. “Thanks to the court's order, we can now get it re-assessed,“ said Sundriyal.

The limit placed on the number of questions open for re-check too faced criti cism after the photocopies showed all answers requiring a relook in some cases. The student who got 58 in English when his teachers said he should have got at least 80, revealed, “My teachers said I was given less marks for all my 13 correct answers.“

There were also complaints that students were given the photocopies on July 5 when the last date for applying for re-evaluation was July 7, which required students to visit the regional CBSE offices.Parents and students charged the board with “cheating“, saying that by delaying the photocopies, it had sought to prevent re-evaluation.

Others are dismayed by the delay in publishing the corrected marks. “I applied for the verification of marks on June 24 and got an email on July 5 stating there was a change in the marks. Why did it take 11 days just to total the marks again?“ fumed one student. “I have given back the original certificate so a new can be issued. But by the time I get it, Delhi University admissions could be over.“