SSC board helpline flooded with queries

The SSC board helpline number kept buzzing on Thursday as several students called to ask why the percentages were calculated out of different totals for students.

The SSC board helpline number kept buzzing on Thursday as several students called to ask why the percentages were calculated out of different totals for students.

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The confusion arose because under the best-five policy students’ percentages were calculated by dropping marks in the lowest scoring subject. While five of the six SSC subjects are 100 marks papers the mathematics paper in on 150 marks.

“We had to explain to them that in the best-five system, if the student did not fare well in mathematics, which is out of 150 marks, then we did not consider the mathematics marks which resulted in their total being out of 500 while for others the total was 550,” said an official manning the SSC helpline.

Volunteers at other helplines said that they have been receiving calls all through this week from anxious parents and students. “Many parents called to seek career counselling while some others called to seek general information,” said Sandra Francis, a counsellor at the Vandrevala Foundation.

“We have been getting 80-85 calls per day for the last two months from anxious students instead of the 30-35 calls that we otherwise receive,” said Aasara director Johnson Thomas.