Concern over Plus One examinations

The Education Department’s plan to conduct Plus One final examinations from September 6 has not gone down well with teachers and students who claim they are ill-prepared for the exercise.

B.S. Emil, a functionary of the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation, which recently floated a Plus One Students’ Collective, said a majority of them were not clear how to go about it. “Almost 70% to 80% of students said the online classes are of no use. If examinations are a means to evaluate the academic knowledge, what is the point in conducting them if they have not studied properly?” he said.

Mr. Emil said that since the syllabus covered in Plus One and Plus Two classes form a base for higher studies, there was a chance of the students being left out. “The government should first take steps to teach the lessons properly. Then all students should be vaccinated. They can hold a combined examination after Plus Two,” he said.

In a memorandum submitted to the Education Department, a group of students claimed that they were confused for the whole year about the chapters to be covered and the conduct of the examinations. The announcement about the examinations came only after Plus Two classes started. This put them in a precarious situation as they were supposed to study both Plus One and Plus Two portions simultaneously.

Meanwhile, K.K. Sreejesh Kumar, general secretary, Kerala Aided Higher Secondary Teachers’ Association, said the State Council of Educational Research and Training was yet to prepare model question papers. The Class X and Class XII examinations had incurred the wrath of the academic community for its weird method of calculating marks.

“The students were given double choice. For an 80-mark paper, they were given questions for 160 marks. All their answers were calculated for the total marks as well, which led to a huge rise in pass percentage. The government later clarified that a similar method won’t be applied for Plus One examinations,” Mr. Kumar said.

However, the teachers still are not clear about it as only some focus points have been published. “The government has clarified that they will not get a chance to improve the scores. The students had no proper classes, their Plus One marks will be added to the final score, and they won’t be able to improve their marks as well,” Mr. Kumar added.