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Thursday, May 29, 2008
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Gradual decline in science education standards

Staff Reporter

Around 15 pc drop in pass percentage of Plus II examinations

2,400 students fail in the paper this year
Poor show is because of the new pattern of examination, says CHSE

BHUBANESWAR: Is higher secondary science education in Orissa on the path of deterioration? A cursory look at the annual Plus II science examination results declared by the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) on Wednesday indicates gradual decline in the standard.

According to results, there has been about 15 per cent drop noticed in the pass percentage of Plus II science examinations during past three years.

Of 54,795 students who appeared the examination this year, 30,387 came out successful. Their number constituted 55.45 per cent.

In 2006, the pass percentage was 70.37 per cent and it witnessed a sudden drop to 60.16 per cent in 2007. Had the council not given students grace marks up to 18 marks the results could have been worse.

Although mathematics is considered one of the mark-fetching subjects, this year’s results showed that 2,400 students failed in the paper, while only 239 students could score between 90 and 100 marks.

However, the CHSE had a ready-made explanation for the poor results. "This year students had appeared in new examination pattern. Earlier, students used to cover two years’ course but now the options have been curtailed. They had to give the examination in two separate years with little scope to compensate for any poor performance," CHSE Chairman U. K Subudhi said.

Higher Education Minister Sameer Dey said the administration enforced a strict conduct of examinations for which results were comparatively poor. This year girls were ahead of boys in success rate. While 57.73 per cent of girls who appeared for the examination passed, the success in case of boys was estimated at 54.28 per cent.

Abhishek Kar of BJB Junior College, Bhubaneswar, topped the examination securing 565 marks, which was 94.17 per cent. Swetasudha Panda of Ravenshaw Junior College, Cuttack, followed him with 559 marks.

In the top 20 slots, which had been generally dominated by students of BJB Junior College, saw a new trend this year.

About 15 students from Ravenshaw Junior College found their names on the list of 39 toppers. Similarly, Khurda district had the highest pass percentage at 74.86 per cent and Nuapada fared badly with 31.17 per cent.

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