Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty on Wednesday announced reforms in assessment in the SSLC examinations.
The Minister said at a press conference that the government was considering bringing back minimum pass marks in the SSLC written examination from next year onwards.
An education conclave with experts from various fields will be held to take a final decision on it.
At present, students have to score 30% marks in continuous evaluation and written examination together in each subject to qualify the SSLC examinations. As students are largely awarded near-full marks in continuous evaluation, it is enough for them to score 10 marks in the written examination to get the minimum pass marks of 30 in a 100-mark test.
Like in the higher secondary sector, scoring of minimum marks (30%) in the written examination in each subject is being considered. For a 40-mark theory paper, a student should score 12 marks, while for a 80-mark theory paper, the minimum pass marks would be 24.
At present, it is enough to score 5 marks in the theory paper if a student has 10 marks in continuous evaluation to reach the score of 15 – the minimum 30% for a 50-marks paper.
The reform was aimed at improving the quality of students so that they could perform better at the national level, the Minister said.
Discussions would be held with education experts, teachers, and parents.
