Lalit Anjum
“Jis ka koye nahi, uska to khuda hai yaaroon”. This song lyric from hindi movie Laawaris (1981) sits entirely fit in the context of school admissions now-a-days. With the declaration of much awaited and unnecessarily hyped Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Xth standard results on 28th May 2015, the admission process for higher secondary classes (10+2) got commenced with immediate effect.
Several unaided private public schools have started their advertising campaign for attracting new pupils into their fold. Their advertisement campaign for admissions can be paralleled with BJP’s election campaign. Campaign is so vociferous that all the daily newspapers are filled with the photographs of successful candidates from different schools boasting of their splendid results. It looks like as if all such candidates were working hard, entirely to fetch unlimited bragging rights to their respective schools.
Having said so there is an entirely different story running away from the public gaze which has “discrimination of marks” as a basis for school admissions. The new trend is being witnessed at the present time in which schools are keeping cut-off marks/grades in previous class, for admissions to higher classes. Even keeping subject specific cut-offs for enrolling in different streams in 10+2, making discrimination at its worst. Most bias is faced by the students of the same school, who are also either denied admissions or subjects of choice. If grades are highest, better are the chances of getting into Science stream, Middle level graders getting Commerce and lowest grader is eligible for Humanities stream only. I am reminded of the greatest scientific mind of 21st century Albert Einstein, who neither was great in studies nor was good at science in school days especially. Still he was nurtured in his later years by the best scientific minds and good teachers, so that we regard him today as legend in modern physics. Had he been discriminated on the basis of marks during school days, we would have been living in the era of medieval times. No nuclear technology, no nanotechnology, no further scientific revolution, we would have missed all that opportunity.
Similar was a case with Michael Faraday, to whom we owe all our progress in electricity. History is filled with all such examples from each and every field whether it is Science, Commerce or Humanities.
Question arises, what prompted these people to achieve distinction is their lives and marked a revolution in our society? Answer lies in the fact that they all dwelled and thrived in the welfare society under which they all were supported and encouraged to pursue their interests. This is in stark contrast to the present situation we are dealing with in regard to the prejudice met in school admissions in 10+2 on the basis of marks in Xth class. How can a school prejudge that the pupil with lowest scores in Xth class can’t be a great engineer? How can a school prejudge that the pupil with excellent marks can’t end as a worst surgeon who can be next Dr. Death? There is no such criterion, none. Nobody knows what future holds. It is just like saying that a medical student doesn’t know how to operate, before becoming a full fledge doctor.
In year 1997 CBSE implemented 10+2 scheme of education for imparting general education up to the level of 10+2 standard. This pattern was introduced keeping in view the two distinct levels, one up to class X and the other up to class XII so that the students with certain competence should alone pursue education beyond class X. The Govt. aided public schools namely Kendriya Vidyalayas were mandated to keep minimum cut-off with 6.5 CGPA for admissions to Science stream in XI level. However this mandate was erroneously exploited by the private schools in their interest and cut-off marks were unjustly increased to 8 or 9 CGPA. Though not covered under above mandate, private unaided public schools with CBSE affiliation can’t keep any cut-off for admissions to XI class for any stream.
There are numerous successful legal battles fought all over the country outlawing this discriminatory practice in schools. In one case “The Principal Cambridge School vs Ms.Payal Gupta & Ors, Appeal No. 5664 of 1994” on 21 August 1995 The Supreme Court of India, ruled in favour of student (Ms.Payal) and denied the school authorities of keeping any cut-off marks for admission to XI class or any such provision under Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and Rule 145 of the Delhi School Education Rules, which school principal was stressing. In this case school involved has been a privately managed unaided public school.
In another case, involving Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) in Chennai, “Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya & Ors (Appellants) vs Saurabh Chaudhary & Ors (Respondents) Civil Appeal No. 6487 of 2008″ on 5th Nov. 2008
The Supreme Court of India, again ruled in favour of respondents (Saurabh) and taking serious note against the criterion set by KV for granting admissions in XI class on basis of marks in previous class.
Hon. Justice A. Alam remarked,” This Court on examining the relevant provisions (rules 138, 144 and 145 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973) came to conclude that the head of an educational institution had no authority to prescribe a cut off level of marks for continuance of further studies in higher class in the same school by a student who passes a public examination”. Further, court said,” But it would be quite unreasonable and unjust to throw out a student from the school because he failed to get the cut off marks in the class X examination. After all the school must share at least some responsibility for the poor performance of its student and should help him in trying to do better in the next higher class”. There are several students who are denied their subject of interest just having one grade short of cut-off i.e. too in only one subject. How can school justify that student does not deserve to study what he likes just because he has only one point short of cut-off which school is not authorised to keep.
This bigotry must be done away with immediate effect. The state education department is once again at the beck and call of the concerned parents. The young people whom the present political dispensation is boastful of providing glorious future are looking at it very keenly. State Education Department and Directorate of School Education must interfere to put an end to this biased practice in school admissions. What we as a society can do at least is to shun our moral compass and relative mind-set to think so called realistically.
We must provide a healthy framework to nurture individual interests and let them blossom gradually.
Follow our WhatsApp channel