Schools unhappy CBSE scrapped re-evaluation

Earlier this week, R.K. Chaturvedi, CBSE chairperson, had announced that the governing body had given its assent to the scrapping of the existing re-evaluation facility, but a system would be put in a place so that “genuine cases” get looked into.  Students until now could seek fresh evaluation of their Board exam answer sheets in 11 subjects and were allowed to apply for a copy of their answer sheets and challenge the evaluation of up to 10 questions by paying Rs 200 for each.

Analysing the implication of the CBSE’s move, Sumit Vohra, founder of admissionsnursery.com, a Delhi-based education portal, said, “Class 12 board exam results decide a student’s future in the contemporary cut-throat world of competition where every decimal counts when it comes to getting an admission in country’s best colleges. It is unfair for students if the re-evaluation system is scrapped.”

Priya Dhall, principal, Dehradun Public School, Ghaziabad, said, “Last year, over 10 students in my school had been granted 7-25 marks more after re-evaluation. The process of evaluation prescribed by CBSE includes several levels of examiners who check a single answer sheet. First the answer sheet is evaluated by an examiner, then by the assistant head examiner. The head examiner is responsible for cross-checking the answer sheets checked by the examiners, but is not liable to go through all the sheets. So the head examiner checks only 8-10 sheets evaluated by every examiner.”

Dhall added, “My experience is that a lot of teachers do not take this job seriously. There is too much pressure on them since a single teacher has to check hundreds of answer sheets on a single day to meet the deadline.”

Speaking about the “injustice” to students, S.K. Bhattacharya, president, Action Committee for Private Unaided Schools in Delhi, said, “This is a matter of transparency. If the board feels that their evaluation system is foolproof, then allowing re-evaluation should not be a problem. Until and unless these mistakes, which are human, are corrected, students will suffer.”

However, Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal, Spring Dales School, Pusa Road, supported the CBSE’s move, but criticised the shortcomings in the current evaluation process. Wattal said, “The re-evaluation process has become exhaustive over the years. Earlier, re-evaluation meant looking for calculation mistakes only. But in 2014, the three-tier re-evaluation system was introduced which allowed students to see their evaluated answer sheets as well.” Wattal highlighted the lack of uniformity in allotment of marks in board exams and questioned who decides how much marks should be allotted to an answer. Wattal said, “The immediate need is to revise our evaluation process. That is where the fault lies.”