Maharashtra HSC exam evaluation criteria announced: State board to pass all Class 12 students, says Varsha Gaikwad

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has announced the policy for allotment of marks to the state board students of Class 12, as its exams were canceled this year owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

State school education minister Varsha Gaikwad made the announcement. To assess the performance of a student, his/her scores in college-based assessments in Class 12 and 11 internal exams, and the average of best three performing subjects in Class 10 of the board exams will be considered, she said.

📢Imp announcement: After several rounds of consultations with various stakeholders, we have finalised the assessment mode & the policy for tabulation of marks for Std.12th HSC board students. Given the pandemic situation, state board is permitted to pass all students #HSCExam pic.twitter.com/zt45CodRKy

— Varsha Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) July 2, 2021

"After several rounds of consultations with various stakeholders, we have finalised the assessment mode and the policy for tabulation of marks for Std 12th HSC board students. Given the pandemic situation, state board is permitted to pass all students," Gaikwad said in a statement.

"For an objective and true reflection of a student's performance, his/her scores in college-based assessments in Std 12th and Std 11th exams, and the best 3 performing subjects in Class X board exams will be considered," she added.

For the theory portion, scores in one or more (unit test/first semester exams/practice exams) theory papers of Class 12 will carry 40 percent weightage, whereas marks in the final exam of Class 11 and the average of the best three performing theory papers of Class 10 will have 30 percent weightage each, the minister said.

"The overall assessment will be the measure of a students' performance in theory papers and orals/practical/internal assessments. Marks for the latter will be actual basis as per the board's prevailing policy," Gaikwad said.

"It is no doubt an ad-hoc arrangement, but one that attempts to capture the spirit of continuous assessments using credible data points. It also offers some semblance of 'normal times', with computation of Std 10th, 11th marks based on assessments held during pre-COVID times," she said.

According to her, any candidate who is not satisfied with the marks allotted, can appear in the next couple of examinations for improvement in scores to be conducted by the board.

A result committee headed by the college principal and comprising six teachers will be responsible for the finalisation of results and safe-keeping of records, she said, adding that although the task was challenging, she was confident that the colleges and the teachers would live up to the task.

She said the same mode of assessment will be used to assess the performance of a candidate appearing for minimum competency vocational courses, bifocal vocational courses and courses aligned with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).

Separate assessment plans have also been finalised for private/repeater candidates and those appearing for isolated subjects. All students and their parents are also requested to read the policy details carefully, she said.

For Improvement Scheme candidates, the canceled board exam of 2021 won't be counted as a missed opportunity, and they can still avail their eligible number of attempts, she said, adding that colleges have been requested to meet the timelines for various activities to allow the board to declare results in a timely manner.

"It has been a school year like no other. The 2020-21 batch has had to adjust a lot. But it has managed to weather the storm with help of our able teachers," the minister noted.

"Maharashtra has been pushing for a uniform assessment formula across India for Class 12. Opting for an evaluation method similar to the one devised by the central education boards will certainly help," she said.

In the last week of May, the Maharashtra government had announced the evaluation criteria for the state board students of Class 10, as its exams were canceled due to the pandemic.