Parents protest, Odisha board denies errors in matric assessment

BSE president Ramashish Hazra said students who have passed in A-1 grade this time are twice more than the previous year. Similarly, three times more students have cleared the test in A-2 grade this year

Published on: Jun 30, 2021, 09:27:19 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The Odisha Board of Secondary Education (BSE) has denied discrepancies in the alternative mode of assessment of matric students amid state-wide protests by students and their guardians over the same. BSE president Ramashish Hazra said on Tuesday, “After consultation with noted educationists, academicians and after observing modalities adopted by other states, the BSE prepared detailed guidelines for the assessment, which were shared with the district education officers and headmasters of the schools. Later, the detailed marking criterion was also uploaded on the board’s website. Based on the protocols, we requested the headmasters to send the list of marks of the students in school tests. Considering the previous performances of the students, we announced the results.”

He said students who have passed in A-1 grade this time are twice more than the previous year. Similarly, three times more students have cleared the test in A-2 grade this year. This year, at least 500,000 students were registered for the Class 10 board examination in the state.

However, Hazra said that students dissatisfied with their marks can take the examinations in offline mode. The process for filling forms for the offline exams will start on July 5 and will continue till July 15. The exams will be conducted on August 5 and the results will be published within 10 days.

Following cancellation of the high school certificate examination this year due to Covid, the BSE announced the results on June 25, taking into account the results of Class 9 and periodic tests of Class 10. It was for the first time that the results were published without the conduct of the high school certificate exam. Around 98% students passed this year.

The results triggered demonstrations in Balasore, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri and other parts of the state, against the evaluation.“We are not satisfied with the marks awarded by the board. The marking was done in a faulty manner and evaluation by school teachers was not taken into account by the board authorities during final evaluation. My son had scored 95% marks in school tests, but he got only 60% in the final board exams,” alleged a parent while another mother said her daughter would end her life if the marks were not re-assessed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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