``Yes, I did wonder if paper-setters or examiners could be instructed to ensure less than 50 per cent of the SSC examinees passed'', said Alembic Vidyalaya principal Harshad Patel. The proposal was tabled at a recent meeting officials of the Gujarat Secondary Education Board held with school managements and principals in Gandhinagar.

``Earlier, the pass percentage was deliberately kept around 48 per cent'', said Patel. ``Ever since the instructions (to this effect) were withdrawn, the pass percentage has been unusually high.'' City-based Principals' Association president Thakorebhai Patel agrees, ``Yes, such a system did exist.''

Scandalous as it may seem, the implicit charge that secondary pass percentages are manipulated to suit the infrastructure available is borne out by statistics: This year's success rate -- at 55.6 -- is far higher than 1998 (45.2 per cent), or the three years immediately preceding that, when it varied between 45 and 48 per cent.

``Schools are comfortable with pass percentages between 45 and 50'', said a school principal on condition of anonymity, admitting that he was familiar with Harshad Patel's idea. ``But the examination section of the SSC Board has to consider the proposal.''

While Vadodara-based Officer on Special Duty at the SSC Board Ashok Patel claimed he had no idea if there was a `revival' proposal before the State government, Additional Chief Secretary (Education) S Mankad denied there ever was such a practice. ``The Board has no intention of implementing anything of the sort in the future'', he added.