Shimla: Even as the government has been tom-tomming the success of the Himachal Pradesh education model, nearly 22% have failed the HP Board’s Class 10 mathematics examination this year and 15% have not cleared the English paper.
As per government data, 1.15 lakh students appeared in the Class 10 board exam, of which 25,398 students failed in mathematics, 16,136 in English, 15,485 in Science, 12,422 in Social science and around 7,800 in Hindi. About 1, 15, 317 students wrote the exams, of which 76,855 passed and 38,463 failed (33%). Many students have failed in more than one or two subjects. If one has failed in more than two subjects he or she fails in the examination. Those failing in one subject are declared passed with a compartment. So 3,8463 students have failed in one or two or more examinations.
As the education department contemplates a future course of action, educationists blame the no-detention policy till Class 8 for the problem. “You will be promoted to next class even if you score nil. Such a policy is not good for the education system,” school teacher Ashwani Kumar says. “Students do not have any fear of the results because they know they cannot fail in the exams.”
The state’s elementary education department director Manmohan Singh says that to improve learning outcomes different programmes are being run with the help of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). “To overcome any gap, programmes are being run in collaboration with SSA and things are being monitored,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The state’s elementary education department director Manmohan Singh says that to improve learning outcomes different programmes are being run with the help of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). “To overcome any gap, programmes are being run in collaboration with SSA and things are being monitored,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}However efforts are not yielding results as the results each year show a decline in educational standards. Not only the board exam results but surveys conducted from time to time by agencies have also painted a grim picture of the state of education in Himachal.
As per SSA’s 2014 end-line survey over 53% students of Class 8th secured an E grade – marks secured are less than 34% of maximum marks - in English and around 38% students secured the same grade in mathematics. About 45.13% of class 6 students scored less than 34 marks in mathematics.
A senior education department officer, requesting anonymity, said no programmes could help improve the results. “Examination should be held for every class and teachers made accountable for results. If the government wants grading system to continue, then more strictness and sincerity on the part of government as well as staff- students is required.”