State cuts extra marks for arts & culture in SSC
New Rules Will Come Into Effect Next Yr
Vinamrata.Borwankar @timesgroup.comMumbai: Ahead of the SSC examination in March next year, the state has revised its rules for awarding additional marks to students excelling in arts and culture. Students can now earn up to 15 marks extra, as opposed to 25.
Besides, the state has done away with the 2%
reservation students who got the extra marks could avail in first year
junior college admissions.
In addition to the marks doled out for
participation in sports, for the first time in March 2017, extra marks
were given for art and cultural activities for Std X students.
Nearly 81,000 SSC students across the state
benefited in the first year. The number of 100 percenters in the state
shot up to 193 in the March exam, about five times the number last year.
Principals of city schools attributed it to the art and culture marks.
Principals of SSC schools in city unhappy with marks cut
According to a government resolution issued by the school education
department on Friday, the new rules will come into effect immediately,
from the SSC exam in 2018. “Since it was the first time last year, there
was a lack of clarity and we felt there was a need to improve the
rules. We consulted experts, reviewed the situation and decided to issue
the new rules,” said Suvarna Kharat, deputy secretary, school education department.
Among the major changes is the halving of the
additional marks awarded to students passing the intermediate drawing
grade examination. In June, TOIhad
reported that of the total students snagging extra marks for art and
culture in the March 2017 exam, 93% got them for drawing. Similarly,
those pursuing classical art will no longer get the additional 25 marks
for wins at national or statelevel tournaments or bagging scholarships.
In addition, the extra marks in board exams will be given depending on a
particular student’s score in the classical art exams (see box).
State board school principals are unhappy. “When
the SSC results were announced, a lot of non-state board schools had
cried foul. It seems like the state has succumbed to that criticism. Now
the state board students will lose out. We had seen an increase in the
number of students opting for extracurricular activities this year. The
state could extend the concessions to other boards too,” said Prashant
Redij, member of the Mumbai principals’ association. The group will meet
in the coming week to discuss how to take up the issue with the state
government.
Principals said scrapping the 2% reservation will
mean students lose their chance to get into colleges of their choice.
“There are some colleges which are very popular among students following
art and culture because of the theatre groups they have or the industry
alumni they boast of. But someone who is seriously dedicating time to
an art form may not be able to give enough attention to academics and
hence not meet the high cut-off of the college,” said Veena Donwalkar,
principal, Chattrapati Shivaji Vidyalaya, Sion.
Rules for the sports extra marks too are likely to
be revised. “We are working on the government resolution for sports as
well. It is expected to be released soon,” said Kharat. Students can get
up to 25 marks extra depending on the level at which they have played a
sport.
