In Hyderabad, there are over 200 CBSE schools. This year, 10 to 15 of them have graduated the first group of class 10 kids
Hyderabad institutions that have recently become associated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have experienced difficulties in scoring their class 10 students. Managements claim that the board’s new tabulation policy has prevented their kids from achieving good grades in various disciplines, as opposed to those who have been registered in CBSE schools for a longer period of time.
All CBSE-affiliated schools in Hyderabad must use their historical performance — greatest overall performance in the last three years — as a reference for grading pupils for 2021, according to the guideline created to evaluate pupils in the absence of exams. Because these new schools lack such data, they will be forced to use the district average as a benchmark for evaluation. The issue: An extremely low district average, which may be unjust to kids who have previously received good grades on their assessments.
“For disciplines like English and Math, the district average is 37 and 36, respectively. Much better results have been achieved by our students. How can we cut 20 to 30 points from each topic because we have to take the district average into account? Caroline Ross, principal of Springfields International School in Bandlaguda, described the situation as “very unjust.” Given the situation, a number of CBSE schools have written to the board, requesting an alternative method of grading students.
Even before Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao makes a formal declaration on the shutdown of schools and dormitories for on-campus classes, certain schools in the city are reverting to online classes in anticipation of an increase in Covid-19 cases. Several CBSE-affiliated schools have already started online courses and sought fees from parents, in direct contravention of the State government’s Covid directives. This caused an uproar, prompting parents and parent organisations to take to the streets and hold rallies in front of school campuses and State Education Department buildings. As a result, a law and order issue arose, necessitating police intervention to keep the protesting parents at bay, citing Covid guidelines.
As if that wasn’t enough, CBSE schools have already begun accepting applications for the academic year 2021-22, citing the Central Board of Education’s guidelines, which the State government has no control over. Similarly, the ICSE has asked its affiliate schools that teach Class XI and XII to begin the admission process for Class XI and to begin offering online sessions. However, it had requested that Class XI enrollment and online education for these pupils begin well before the results were announced. Another lecturer at an ICSE-affiliated school in Moinabad, Ranga Reddy district, claimed the board has urged the schools with ISC sections to start the admissions process.
Ranga Reddy, a district education official, stated that CBSE and ICSE schools have become the most bothersome, not just for parents but also for the education department. “These schools have been in flagrant disregard of State government regulations and other directions issued from time to time,” the official said.
