CBSE 12th Results: Decision of unequal weightage for both terms draws mixed reaction from schools

CBSE’s decision to give unequal weightage to the theory papers of both terms for tabulating Class 12 results this year drew mixed reactions from principals of affiliated schools on Friday.

The Board has accorded 30% weightage to students’ performance in the Term 1 theory paper and 70% weightage to marks scored in Term 2 for arriving at the final results.

LV Sehgal, Principal of Bal Bharti Public School (Ganga Ram Hospital Marg) in Delhi felt the decision is good since students the half-yearly examinations (or Term 1) were conducted at a time of uncertainty and that may have affected performance. “The final exams were conducted after the students got the opportunity to prepare well with their teachers and gain confidence,” she added.

Sudha Acharya, principal ITL Public School (Dwarka) in Delhi echoed Sehgal’s views. She told The Indian Express, “We had also advised the Board to follow this weightage system. We felt that we could not rise up to the occasion in the first term exams and some schools did not conduct the exams very diligently. We thought that deserving students would be affected, so we wanted the weightage to be less for Term I.”

“The Term II exams were conducted like board exams in any regular year where students go to external centers, unlike Term I where they wrote in schools, so that was fair,” she added

According to Nirmal Waddan, principal, The Kalyani School in Pune, the Board’s decision has its pros and cons. “Term I was completely objective, which is not the usual CBSE pattern. Good students lost marks in this exam. That apart, there were mistakes in some of the question papers. For instance in English, some questions had more than one answer. In the case, of Mathematics, objective type questions leave no room for step-marking which is also a disadvantage. As for Term II, which had subjective questions, our students didn’t get enough practice for writing. They were slow and not confident. That’s another side of the story,” she said.

Sangeeta Kapoor, principal of the Orchid School in Pune said that many students were perhaps expecting the Board to give equal weightage to both terms. “There are multiple ways of looking at it. Yes students and teachers were struggling but at the same time, we made some extraordinary efforts for Term I. We extended the term, worked on holidays. I think students were hoping for a 50-50 weightage, so let’s see how they feel,” she said.