Sara Alvi let out a sigh of relief as she watched Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal announce on television that Board examinations for Class X need to be scrapped. Pressure to perform had begun for the Class IX student a year ago.

Weak in Maths, Alvi, of Khalsa School in Chandni Chowk, had nightmares about failing in the subject. “I don’t understand Maths,” she said, “but thankfully, the Boards will now be done away with. I can then choose subjects other than Maths in classes XI and XII.”

Sibal has also proposed a system of percentiles, rather than percentages, should be put in place.

However, reactions from school principals and educationists have been varied.

Raziya Begum, principal of Zeenat Mahal School in Zafrabad, said the move would go a long way in reforming the education system and moving it towards a quality-based approach. D K Tiwari, secretary of the Delhi Government School Teachers Association, said Sibal’s proposal could also curb the dropout rate among students who might quit after faring poorly in the Class X Boards.

Confusion galore
Several principals are, meanwhile, confused over Sibal’s proposal for schools’ autonomy in implementing the percentile system, as is present in the west.

“The minister has not made a clear-cut policy on how much autonomy the schools will have,” said Vandana Puri, principal of Salwan Public School, Karol Bagh. “He did not say who will give percentiles to students — the CBSE or schools?”

A public school principal, who did not wish to be named, said: “We cannot blindly follow the western countries. We need the infrastructure to serve an alternative system,”

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