High pass percentage, marks in SSC exams not enough to ensure quality education, says official

The quality in education will be ensured when the mean, median and mode of the SSC marks obtained by the students of a school surpass 70%, says School Education Principal Secretary Praveen Prakash 

Department of School Education Principal Secretary Praveen Prakash on May 19 (Sunday) said unlike in the past the performance of a school in the 10th class board examinations was gauged by the pass percentage or the highest marks obtained, these metrics are not enough now to ensure quality education.

In a statement, Mr. Praveen Prakash said there was a need to analyse the 10th class results with a new approach. The officials should use a new lens to review this academic year’s (2023-24) Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination results to ensure that all high school students achieve the desired results in the next academic year (2024-25).

Improving students’ employability hinges on enhancing quality at the individual level and the depth of knowledge of the students, he said.

“A school may record a pass percentage of 100, but if all students barely scrape through with 40% marks, it does not reflect high educational standards. Similarly, a school where only one student excels with 99% marks while the rest barely meet the passing threshold of 40% marks, it would not serve any purpose,” he said.

The true quality will reflect when the mean, median and mode of the marks obtained by the students of a school surpass 70%, which is equal to 420 marks in absolute terms, he said.

Referring to the SSC results announced last month, he said the mean, median and mode of the municipal schools were 357, 366 and 390 respectively, while the same for the Zilla Parishad schools were 358, 371 and 385 respectively. The numbers are below the desired 420. The data of the Andhra Pradesh Model Schools, however, was significantly higher with the mean, median and mode being 437, 452 and 509 respectively, he said.

Mr. Praveen Prakash said the District Education Officers should adopt the new approach to analyse this year’s results to ensure its improvement in the next academic year.