KAMS urges State govt. to reduce SSLC pass percentage from current 35% to 33%

The Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka has observed that the passing mark for the SSLC exam in Karnataka is higher than that in other States.
| Photo Credit: K.

To improve pass percentage in the SSLC examination, the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS), an association of private school managements, has urged the State government to reduce the pass percentage from the current 35% to 33% to bring parity with national standards.

The KAMS submitted a series of policy-level reforms and recommendations to improve the pass percentages in the SSLC exam to Rashmi Mahesh, principal secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, on Saturday, after comparing the education system of States like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The association has requested the government to form a high-level committee on SSLC exam reforms immediately. The association has observed that the passing mark for SSLC exam required in Karnataka is higher than that in the other States.

“While in Karnataka it is 35%, CBSE has it at 33%. In Kerala, it is 30% in all subjects and also in total. In Andhra Pradesh, students must score 35% in each subject except in Hindi (20%). Overall 32.5% is required,” the association has said.

“There is no uniformity in the subjects studied. Science, mathematics, and social science are mostly common subjects with two languages, one being English. The other is regional language. External (Theory) examination is there in all patterns. There is no internal assessment at all in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (where science practicals are considered Internal). Most of the other States also have a blended model of internal and external assessment for student evaluation. In Telangana, 20 internal assessment exists for each subject. In Kerala, 130 marks are for internals and 520 for externals. In CBSE, 20 marks are for internal and 80 marks for external exam and a student needs to pass with 33% overall, including the internals. However, in Karnataka, a student must separately score 35% in the final exam as internal assessment is not counted,” the association said.

The association also recommends dual exam option in maths and science. In CBSE, students have the option to choose between basic maths and standard maths that will accommodate diverse student learning needs. A similar system in Karnataka will reduce the burden on students, the association added.

Another recommendation of KAMS is to align the textbooks and curriculum to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks.

Improving teacher training, strengthening the continuous and comprehension evaluation are the other reforms have been suggested. It has also asked the government to mandate all schools to take baseline and end-line assessments based on common learning outcomes at key stages like grade 3, 5 and 8.