HRD Ministry has taken a progressive step to provide a level-playing field to students
The Ministry of Human Resource Development's intervention to take decisive steps to bring an end to the malpractice of the marks moderation policy is welcome. To this end, the ministry has taken a sensible step to favour a more scientific moderation policy 2018 onwards. The details are not fully known, but an inter-State group comprising representatives from different boards has been set up. What is commendable is that the ministry has sought to opt for a balanced approach by not completely doing away with the grace marks policy, which acts as a saviour for those students who miss the pass percentage by a few marks. Besides, to ensure uniformity, the ministry has also sought to make a common course curriculum and common set of questions across all boards. The participation of all boards will ensure that there are no further disagreements or reservations regarding the marking policy itself. This move will likely further boost cooperation among different boards that are always at loggerheads regarding the unfair marking system itself. The Central Board of Secondary Examination's (CBSE) impromptu decision to scrap the moderation policy at a crucial time when college admission processes were about to begin last month had raised a hue and cry. The CBSE's decision compelled agitating parents to knock the doors of the High Court, which disallowed the board to take the decision this year. Simultaneously, it brought the focus back to the flawed policy itself and forced the boards and our policy-makers to look into the nitty-gritty of the matter, including inflated marks.
The disadvantages of the moderation policy were many. First, this unfair policy had given rise to a new trend where colleges have been setting an impossible eligibility bar for the students. Cut-off marks across various colleges in the country today have soared to as high as 99 per cent. Such an atmosphere gave rise to a highly competitive environment where even top scorers were pitted against one another, forget about the middle scorers left in the lurch, not getting admissions even in a decent college. Most students were even forced to compromise with their choice of subjects. Second, the artificial spiking of marks came to undermine the calibre of the students. It gave rise to a culture where they became more dependent on the generosity of the boards. Third, it led to an unhealthy competition among various boards themselves. To this end, while some boards made the marking system more lenient, others opted to set easy question papers. Such a situation also compelled the parents to make choices among the boards — with most of them wanting to enroll their wards in a easy scoring board. While the ministry has taken a progressive step to provide a level-playing field to the students, it is now up to the respective boards to reconcile differences and cooperate with one another to arrive at a mutual decision.