The ministry of human resources development (MHRD) directive to replace marks with ?an absolute grading system? for class IX and X and to do away with class X board exams has received an enthusiastic reaction from the academic and student community, but the success of the proposed system, as with all grand schemes or manuscripts, will lie in the ability to pay attention to and iron out the details.

Getting rid of the ?fierce competitiveness which comes with the terrible list-wise merit schedule in order of marks? is a great thing. CBSE schools till class XII more so agree about the purposelessness of this format as it is largely their internal students who are moved from class X to class XI and therefore the less competitive grading system is a welcome change. Additionally the continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) of spreading out across the year evaluation based on course work and project work, interactive and team based exercises means following the more healthy ?eat little but often? principle which will ?give a chance for the average child to come up?. Additionally, one of more practical issues being raised by CBSE school principals and specialists monitoring these developments is, ?how the approximately 75% of CBSE staff who work on class X boards are going to be redeployed and what will be done by CBSE to replace the revenue which comes from the Class X board exam fees paid by students?. ?By asking teachers of each subject to send for CBSE approval a ?500-question bank? and prescribing an ?optional aptitude test? for class IX and X students to help determine the stream s/he will choose in class XI is demonstrating to us that CBSE still wants control over schools,? says Jyoti Bose, principal Springdales School Delhi further adding that CBSE should not be doing the work of NCERT.

Difference between absolute grading system proposed and the earlier marks system.

While the details of the ?absoulte grade system? are yet awaited by schools both CBSE and MHRD have made their intent clear, which is to encourage other boards to adopt the same grade system as CBSE class IX and X and within CBSE schools encourage it to ?filter it down to lower classes?. ?The case for replacing ?marks or points? system with ?grades or range? is one that has been mooted by NCERT and saw light of day in the national policy on education 1986. At the time it was a reaction against absolute grading but it seems to be that now it is the same absolute grading being reinstated by CBSE and MHRD,? says Hari Srivastava former head of department, measurement and evaluation at NCERT. Absolute grade proposes the same ranges for all subjects and exams when they should differ subject-to-subject and exam-to-exam.

Srivastava categorises two types of grading, ?direct or assessment-based grading? that is not comparative or practical when large number of students are involved and ?indirect grading? further branched into ?absolute? and ?relative? grading. ?Relative grading? that is based on percentiles and factor in the gaps within the marking system such as differentiating between descriptive and quantitative subjects is the more scientific approach versus absolute grading that does not factor in these issues. Srivastava explains, ?Percentile grading had its origins in World War II which was the main measure used by the US airforce and because of its scientific and accurate approach was thereafter adopted widely. Relative grading on a nine-point ?Stanine scale? divides entire normal distribution of ?obtained scores? in nine parts, ignoring skewness because of error of measures.? Srivastava adds, ?The absolute grading is not an academic but an administrative grading whereas the percentile grading through normal distribution takes into account the natural phenomena of division of humanity such as differences in ?student caliber? and in ?mark-yielding nature of subjects?.? Also to be noted is that only the relative grading system factors in human error or ?standard error of measurement?. 5 to 7% standard errors of measurement exist as per studies conducted and in 50% of cases there are more than 5% variations in the standards of scoring as a result of having multiple examiners.

Experts are concerned that the absolute grade system will be no different from the marks system. For instance, ?predetermination of boundary scores or marks such as 33 pass, 45 second division, 60 first division, 75 distinction? that is prevalent in almost all 42 school education boards in India and classify students into different categories is not scientific and is in fact an instance of what is called ?absolute grading?. ?Predetermined marks? means assigning categories before the exam without knowing the difficulty level of the exam, the standard of the students taking the exam and the ?mark yielding nature of the subject? or the fact that 40 marks in Maths does not equal 40 in English. In addition to student stress levels these are the very factors that prompted the case for changing the marks system to a grading system and needs to be looked at thoroughly.

?malvika.chandan@expressindia.com