Students of the CISCE have outperformed their counterparts from state boards and CBSE in the first ever standardized country wide test for class X students. The test was carried out as part of a sample survey conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Students from the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, that conducts the ICSE (Class X) examination, achieved top honours, as per findings of the survey.
While several rounds of achievement surveys have been conducted by NCERT at the elementary stage of school education (at Class III, V and VIII levels), this is the first time that the NCERT has undertaken the Achievement Survey at the Class X level.
The objective of the survey was to assess achievement levels of students in the five major subjects of English, Mathematics, Social Science, Science and Modern Indian languages and to study differences in achievement levels with regards to area, gender, social group, board and management of schools.
The test was conducted in 24 states and 7 union territories of the country after a scientific and robust process of sample design, test development and translation.
NCERT surveyors visited 7,216 schools, affiliated to CISCE, CBSE and the various state boards and tested 277,416 students on the five subjects with a standard set of multiple-choice questions.
Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations said, “The board has kept pace with the changing scenario and has altered its curriculum in the manner to provide the best to its children.”
The Survey revealed that the majority of the States/UTs are performing below the overall average score in all subject areas. In most subjects, scores for boys and girls were found to be very similar. In all subjects, students from urban areas outperformed their counterparts from rural areas.