Maha SSC: Even 99% won’t be enough

Even scoring a 99% might not be enough to get Secondary School Certificate (SSC) students into the top colleges.

With several CBSE and ICSE students crossing the 99% mark in the Class 10 exams recently, it will be tough for SSC students to match the top scores in other boards, said school principals.

The exam results will be announced online at 1pm today by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.

A difficult algebra paper and new rules of marking have left students, parents and schools worried about a drop in performances. Students and parents had complained that the paper contained Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions, which were unusually tough.

“In one of the problems, students were given three-digit numbers making it very difficult to solve,” said A Atul, a parent of a student from SVIS School Kandivli. “Even the CBSE and ICSE boards ask only two-digit numbers in such questions.”

The fall in pass percentage in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams, after the new rules for marking were introduced have also added to the student anxieties.

This year,in both SSC and HSC exams, internal assessment of 20 marks was carried out by external examiners and not school teachers. Earlier, schools would mark their students generously on this component as the assessment was in their hands.

“Previously, even if the theory exam didn’t go well, the scores would be buoyed by internal marks.But this time there is no guarantee that we will get good marks in practical exams,” said Shweta Shastri, a student from Andheri.

SSC students will also have to match the stellar performances of their counterparts in CBSE and ICSE boards this year. The highest score in both these exams crossed 99%.

“The non-state board students have raised the bar for SSC students this year,” said Manju Nichani, principal, KC College, Churchgate. “College cut offs are sure to soar by 2-3 per cent.”

SSC 2016

Over 17. 27 lakh students across the state, including 3. 74 lakh from the Mumbai division, took the exam this year

Students will be able to access the results online at www.mahresult.nic.in today

Mark sheets will be distributed to students in schools on June 15

Students will be able to apply for verification of marks immediately after the results from June 7 to June 27

Students can also get a photocopy of the answer sheets at a minimum fee and then submit for revaluation of the paper

More concessions for special students this year. They were allowed to use the services of an adult writer if they were unable to find writers younger to them

To ease students’ burden, the board had once again split the science paper into two sections so that it becomes easy for students to revise the subject

Students were also given 10 minutes extra time to read their paper before they start writing

Re-exams for those who fail in the March exam, will be conducted in July, so that a year is not wasted

Students will be able to register for online exam but the date has not yet been announced