Mumbai: The recent changes and new rules introduced by the state board for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations have had varying effects on students, parents and teachers. While some decisions are seen as favourable, others have evoked opposition and protest. This year, the state board introduced a new rule: “A background verification will be done of every teaching or non-teaching faculty who enters the classroom, where the question papers are bundled and kept before the exams.” This has been initiated as most paper leaks have occurred prior to the beginning of the exams, when photographs of the question papers have been circulated among students over social media. Now, though the teaching and non-teaching faculty has welcomed this rule, principals do not want it. They claim this verification process will delay the examination. A principal said, “All our staff are credible but still, if the board wants to conduct a background check, then we will cooperate. But this check should not hinder or delay the examination time because several staffers are involved in this process.” Another rule which has raised eyebrows is the decision to scrap internal assessment for language subjects. Parents have strongly opposed this rule, claiming students will not be able to score higher marks without internal assessment. Parents of students attending Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools staged a protest over this issue, supported by the Yuva Sena and the civic education committee.
However, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) is adamant. A senior official of the state board said, “Internal assessment are scrapped this year as we have been receiving complaints about schools awarding marks liberally to students in internal tests. Some schools even do it so that students score high marks, do not fail and the school secures a 100 per cent pass result. So we decided to scrap internal assessment this year on a pilot basis.” In the midst of this turmoil, students are coping with the stress of preparing for the examination. With barely three weeks to go for the SSC board examinations to begin (March 1), they cannot afford to lose focus.
