The recent Class X and XII results in Kerala have catalyzed controversies and debates both at state and national levels. The present political controversy that boils hot in Kerala is that the students who secured A + in all the subjects in the recent Class X examination were unable to find admission in their desired combinations in the +1 admission. At the national level, an even bitter and acerbic sort of controversy is brewing up as the students from Kerala have secured admission in the majority of the seats in some colleges for degree admission under the Delhi University. It calls for an immediate introspection to inspect, diagnose and pinpoint whether this situation is due to the sudden rise in the standard of education in Kerala or because of the inadequacy of an effective and committed evaluation process. Mark was replaced by grades to save the pupils from the mental stress of undue competition generated from the marking system. The declared policy is that the child should be evaluated through the written tests that combine 80% of the total grades and the remaining 20% is done through a continuous and comprehensive evaluation. The written test in science subjects should be of 60% and practical tests contain the next 20%. The strongest criticism now is that the system itself ventilates ample opportunities for the manipulation of the scientific principles and methods of evaluation.
For some good years, 20% CE has just been a convenient means for the mindless donation of marks. Not even a single school in the state is in a mood and mind to follow the guidelines of the CE system. The government too preserves a blind eye syndrome and never musters up the adequate inspiration to implement a strict monitoring mechanism. Moreover, this recklessly benevolent awarding of marks is in perfect tune with the political intention of the state government to highlight the phenomenal success rate as the result of their administrative efficiency. The policy is simple: dish out maximum marks and make both the parents and the pupils as happy as possible. Despite the compelling criticism from both the scholarly and the ordinary community, the concerned authorities remain solidly stoic.
Corona closures have significantly affected the education system. Its repercussions are yet to be visible, not only in Kerala and India but all over the world. The very politically motivated attempts by the Kerala education administrators to present itself as a model state that ensured the maximum online learning reach and as a state that ran the exams and declared the results even when in the turmoil of a morbid pandemic will have far-reaching repercussions. It was the political support and manpower resource of a particular section of teachers that persuaded the government to act with political malice, dispelling criticism. Simultaneously, the government cashed in on the democratic etiquette of a large section of the people who chose not to over-criticize the government in the wake of the Corona crisis. Elections and party conventions were held in violation of the Corona protocols. This paved the way for the uncontrolled spread of Corona in Kerala. Then to cover up its ugly image, the state resorted to the political gimmick of mark-benevolence-fest.
In Kerala, for the Class X examination, 69546 candidates appeared under the CBSE Board, 7787 under ICSE, and 4,22,226 under the State Board. The same at the +2 level are 37104, 2775, and 446471 respectively. All boards have declared an average of 99% success at both levels. Let us concede that this happened under the special circumstances of this year. But the number of students who got an A + in all subjects amuses an onlooker. The number of students in the 10th class has increased from 41906 in the last year to 1,21,318 this year. At the +2 level, it was 18510 last year and an astonishing 48383 this year. Nearly three times surge at both levels! It gives an impression that even when online education failed to work properly, the quality of education rose up. This is where the credibility of the board exams and the evaluation system in Kerala came under scathing criticism at the national level. The criticism does have some merit. It is an immediate urgency that we must conduct an introspection and it can help in the long run to improve the otherwise failing system.
This high performance of Kerala Board students is not evident in the competitive or entrance examinations conducted at the national level. The NEET and JEE examinations conducted at the national level exhibit less appreciable performance of the Kerala board students in comparison to the other state students. The same is true of the entrance examinations conducted by the Kerala Entrance Commission for various courses for students in Kerala who have passed the qualifying examination from different boards. Let us take a look at the results of the entrance examination conducted for engineering-related courses in Kerala. 73977 students wrote the KEAM exam this year. The rank list of 47629 students who qualified for it was published by the Commission. In this rank list, 13841 students were from the CBSE category, 1144 from the lCSE, and 32180 from the Kerala State Board. 464 candidates were from other boards including NIOS. They may be from abroad too. When the first 5000 candidates from the rank list were considered, 242, that is 21.15%, are lCSEs and 2602 (18%) are CBSEs students in the top 5000. The share of the State Board is 2112. That is only 6.56%. The participation of other students is even 9.48%. Analyzing the rank list up to 10000 or 15000 may make it visible that the share of students who qualified through the Kerala State Board examination is increasing. This not only reflects the difference in the evaluation process but also the quality of the education.
What are the shortcomings of the Kerala Board Examination? Where did such a big fall happen? The government, which went with the heroic argument that the class was conducted in the challenging context of the corona, was not initially prepared to accept the opinions of teachers, educators, and other dignitaries and was willing to embrace reality only in the final stages when children came physically to school. The syllabus, which had to be rearranged at the beginning, was cut short just before the exam. The announcement of an alternative system of double questions for the exam had brought some relief to the mental stress of the children. At the same time, the CBSE adopted the most appropriate evaluation method through several rounds of nationwide consultations. It was not entirely false proof, but it was transparent and scientific. The cancellation of the final examination and the publication of the evaluation method was generally accepted by all. The emphasis was on effacing children’s mental conflicts, protecting their rights, and at the same time not giving space for institutional manipulations to showcase their effulgent results. But in Kerala, the examination was conducted in a frightening atmosphere even when the state was on the threshold of a complete lockdown. The consolation of double questions was sufficiently used to highlight the image of the government but resulted in a faulty evaluation process. The questions 160 marks appeared in an examination of 80 marks. Instead of considering the child’s best answers within the limits, the total marks of all attended questions were charitably gifted. This actually led to a doubling of the mark. Most of the children scored above 90% marks.
As per the decision of the Kerala Entrance Commission, it was initially decided that the admission process for an engineering degree in Kerala should be completed through two allotments. But when the process was completed, only about 20,000 students were admitted. More than 30,000 seats remain vacant. An allotment has also been made as an attempt to resolve it. Even after that, the seats will certainly remain vacant. At the same time, a large section of students is overzealous to study humanities at outside universities. Doesn’t this show that even though they have passed +2 with good marks in science in Kerala, they do not have the qualifications or aptitude to join engineering courses or science subjects? This points to the deterioration of the quality of our education and the manipulation in evaluation. It also calls for the failure of +2 level course planning. It is a fact that Kerala is trying to cover up the decline in quality by donating unprincipled marks. In this Corona era, not only the quality but the learning gap also is tried to cover up.
It is in this context, many cast a suspicious eye at the Kerala State Board for the voluminous intrusion of Kerala students in this year’s degree admissions at Delhi University. In 2016, when the admission process was completed with 100% cut-off marks, only 3 Kerala Board students got admission. By 2019, the number has increased to 208. The fact that this number has risen to 2300 this year is more worrying than pride. This is more than 95% of the total students in many reputed colleges. Moreover, due to the special admission system of Delhi University, the total number of seats allotted by the University is outnumbered. In this dubious context, it is natural to have doubts about the evaluation and mark donation in Kerala. Even if it is alleged that there is a political agenda behind it, it cannot be blamed. Generally, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and western UP Students depend on Delhi University and its colleges. It is to be hoped that this issue will force the policymakers and planners in Kerala to cogitate more deeply on the quality of the education in their state, even when not paying any attention to the lamentations of the local students who are being deprived of opportunities by the rush of Malayalee students who are not proficient in Hindi or English.
The Author Shri A. Vinod is a renowned National level Educationist from Kerala.
