Rise in top scorers in Class 10 exams, CBSE attributes it to alternate assessment scheme

New Delhi: The number of students scoring above 90% in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 results has shot up this year as the board switched to an alternate assessment policy in light of the Covid pandemic

New Delhi: The number of students scoring above 90% in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 results has shot up this year as the board switched to an alternate assessment policy in light of the Covid pandemic.

Students celebrate after CBSE class 10 results were announced at St Thomas School, Mandir Marg, on Tuesday. Over 57,824 students across the country scored above 95% in the results. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

While the number of students scoring 90% and above has increased by 9%, there has been an increase of 38.3% in the number of those scoring 95% and above.

Of the total 2,097,128 Class 10 students across the country whose results have been declared by the CBSE, 200,962 (9.5%) and 57,824 (2.76%) candidates scored 90-95% and above 95% respectively, higher than last year when 184,358 and 41,806 students scored in the same range.

CBSE officials attributed the spike to the alternate assessment scheme, under which students were evaluated on the basis of their performances in school level unit tests, mid-terms/half-yearly exams, and the pre-boards, following the cancellation of their final examinations in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The CBSE had also asked schools to keep their overall pass percentage in line with a reference year -- that is chosen from their best performance in Class 10 final exams in the last three years. “The increase in the overall pass percentage is because schools moderate the marks by +/-2 in accordance with their best percentage in the last three years. So the best of all the schools have together increased the overall pass percentage this year. This ultimately increased the number of top scorers,” said CBSE controller examination Sanyam Bhardwaj.

Principal of a government school said that the schools which had been performing averagely benefited by the policy. “Many schools that had scored less in pre-boards later moderated marks in accordance with their reference year performances in final exams. This is how their overall score and number of top scorers increased,” the principal said.

Ameeta Wattal, former principal of Springdales School in Pusa Road and chairperson of DLF foundation (schools and scholarship), said, “In the absence of any robust system to evaluate students without examination, this was the best way to evaluate students amid the pandemic. However, this could have huge repercussions later as the children move to senior classes, in terms of understanding and quality of learning. Steps need to be taken to check that. We must immediately start different ways of learning both online and offline and ways to bring children back to schools.”