SSLC: Putting future at stake

The much awaited Kerala SSLC results 2015 announced on Monday by Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb would be witnessing changes after the state Education Department decided to republish the results following widespread complaints over errors in the same.

The Pareeksha Bhavan and IT@School were instructed to resolve the issues at the earliest and to publish the revised results in two days. Errors had crept in the results announced that was reported from various corners including districts like Kottayam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kazaragod. Results reportedly were announced without adding the grace marks. Many of the students did not get their marks, while those who passed in all subjects were informed that they have not qualified for higher studies. According to the results announced on Monday, a total of 4, 58,841 students qualified for higher studies with the state recording a pass percentage of 97.99. But once the new results are published, the pass percentage is likely to change. So will be the number of schools, recording cent percent pass. The Department would be collecting the data from all the 54 valuation centres in the state and reexamine it.

Education minister P K Abdu Rabb said that the discrepancies in the exam results were the result of software issues adding that it would be resolved in two days. The non availability of the results of subjects like Physics, Social science and Hindi due to the software issues cited is not believable. There might have been errors while uploading the marks obtained from the various centres. The grace marks earned through sports and science activities, reportedly have also not been uploaded. The over enthusiasm and unnecessary haste to announce the results before the media through a press conference has led to the perplexity and apprehensions among the students as well as their parents. The concerned authorities have not even bothered to examine the results fed to the system. The approach by the authorities is plain idiocy as it concerns the future of the children passing out of school and opting for higher studies. The authorities not only failed to make the system error free but also neglected the grave mistakes pointed out by the media.

Given the seriousness of the issue, an extensive inquiry has to be carried out on the matter. Questions arise about the credibility of the sources based on which the Minister conducted the press conference. The information made available through the IT@School website was different from that given by the Minister. Kannur that was declared the district with the best pass percentage is now at the fifth position and Kozhikode is likely to become the district that procured the highest pass percentage. There is at present a major difference in the estimates of schools with 100 percent and students who secured an A+ in all subjects. The Denegration of values in the political and social fronts has dangerously affected the education sector. The present concepts about the education and the exam system have become obsolete and will destroy the future of the children. People lacking in-depth knowledge and deeper outlooks on the matter are the ones handling the department. Despite this, it expects a hike in the pass percentage every year which is usually seen as a boost for the government in power. Only when persons responsible for the playing with the future of children are punished would the system be error free.