Thiruvananthapuram:
The government claims that public education in Kerala is of international standards. Many around us passionately proclaims that hi-tech classrooms and better teaching methods are the reason behind the high pass percentage in Class 10th and Plus Two in the state.
The Director of General Education S Shanavas IAS, has come out with criticism amid claims that Kerala’s general education arena is improving, highlighting the rising pass percentage every year. He said this during an SSLC question paper preparation workshop.
Director of General Education, S. Shanavas, has expressed concerns about the excessive awarding of marks in the education sector in Kerala. He pointed out that even students who cannot read are receiving A+ grades, which according to him is unfair to the children. While he does not object to help students pass in public examinations, he urges teachers not to assign more than 50 percent marks to students who do not deserve such high scores.
“For whom is the efforts being done?? Examinations should be seen as examinations. Allowing students to pass is acceptable; there’s no objection to that. However, insisting on everyone receiving an A+ is not obligatory. Shouldn’t getting an A or an A+ hold significance? What if 69,000 students get A+ every time? I’m pretty sure that there are even students who lack basic reading skills. Telling the child that he has a talent that he doesn’t have, is cheating,” criticized S Shanavas, addressing the Kerala education system.
The words from the Director of General Education have shocked the people of Kerala, who have always taken pride in the high pass percentage of 10th and Plus Two students.
The workshop ended with a verbal instruction not to distribute marks abundantly and unnecessarily. This year the pass percentage in SSLC exam was 99.7% where 68,604 students had secured A+ for all subjects.
The explanation of S. Shanavas is that the criticism was made to improve the evaluation process. But the talk among the teachers is that the criticism is disparaging the field of public education.
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