90s club grows, but schools say students take boards lightly

The 90s club in most CBSE schools grew bigger this year, but teachers said the new evaluation system was bringing down the importance of the board exam.

The 90s club in most CBSE schools grew bigger this year, but teachers said the new evaluation system was bringing down the importance of the board exam.

Under the evaluation pattern introduced by CBSE five years ago, the actual board exams held in March only accounts for 30 marks. Internal assessments under the continuous comprehensive evaluation pattern contribute the other 70 marks. This includes modules such as the Open Text-based Assessment (OTBA) — where students are tested on material given to them before — and the Problem Solving Assessment (PSA).

Students appear for two PSAs, one each in Class 9 and Class 10. The best scores of the two are included in the Class 10 result.

As a result, scores of the students have soared in some schools.

Take the Balbharti School in Airoli. Of the 174 students who took the exams, 25 got a 10 CGPA – higher than 20 students last year. Sixty-seven students scored in the 80s.

“Modules such as OTBA and PSA have actually helped this year,” said Ganesh Parmeshwaran, the school’s principal.

As many as 60% of the students at Birla School, Kalyan, secured above 90% this year, going by the grades. Of this, 39.5% students scored above 95%. Last year, this figure was only 35%.

“Our results were better than last year’s,” said Ranjna Jangra, the principal. “Apart from the different assessment modules, we had called students to school for revision till March and did not give them any preparatory leave.”

Some schools, however, saw a drop in student performance. At Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIT, Powai, only 25 students scored a 10 CGPA this year, a fall from last year’s 47. Similarly, 42 students scored 10 CGPAs in RN Podar School, Santacruz, lesser than 67 last year.

“Many students in our school have secured 9.8 CGPA this year, missing out on the perfect 10,” said Avnita Bir, the principal of RN Podar school. “The reason is the competitive spirit among students is gone, students are not going that extra mile.”