State Board gives students second shot at improving marks, in practicals too

The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has revised rules for students of Class X and Class XII to appear for the subsequent exam to improve results, by giving them two chances.

Also, they can henceforth appear for the practical examinations, too, to improve overall tally. So far, students were allowed one shot at improving their Board results through the Class Improvement Scheme (CIS).

MSBSHSE chairperson Sarjerao Jadhav said changes in the CIS would come into effect from the next Board exam in March/April.

"Students appearing for CIS used to have little time for improving their score. This was against the basic purpose of the scheme, so we decided to give students another chance," he told Newsline on Friday.

Jadhav said there were more takers for CIS from science stream of Class XII as students needed to improve scores for admission to professional courses like engineering and medicine. Students appearing for the board examination with all compulsory subjects are entitled to CIS, as per which they can appear for the consecutive Board exam.

Introduced in 2008, the origin of CIS was the belief that a student's performance cannot be evaluated by way of a mere few hours of exam at the end of the academic year.

On an average, 2,200 students of Class XII opt for CIS every year. The number for CIS among Class X students is relatively fewer and annually about 100 students opt for it, MSBSHSE officials said.

Reacting to the Board decision to allow two chances for CIC, secretary of Western Maharashtra School Principals' Association Pramod Nemade said it would help students, especially those who had poor performances due to unavoidable reasons.

Meanwhile, MSBSHSE has announced that Class XII students who appeared for the Board exam in March 2011, October 2011, March 2012 and October 2012 are eligible for CIS for March/April 2013 examination. The move to this effect has been taken by the Board in view of the HRD Ministry decision to prepare the merit list for admission to NITs, IIITs, DTU, Delhi and other CFTIs by giving 40 per cent weightage (suitably normalised) to class XII marks (or an equivalent examination).

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