Compare and contrast the evaluation systems in the school leaving examination of State, CBSE and ICSE boards 203

 

Compare and contrast the evaluation systems in the school leaving examination of State, CBSE and ICSE boards

1.0. INTRODUCTION

In a rapidly changing world, the education system in India is re-shaping and refreshing itself day by day. The most sensitive part of curriculum change is change in the Assessment and Evaluation system. For quality assurance and for maintaining public confidence, links with authorities like International Assessments for Indian Schools and distinguished foreign institutions are thought to be vital. The Government of India through the Ministry of Human Resource Development is the controlling authority of the assessment systems and procedures. The Educational Boards and Councils in different states and union territories are applying their own strategies to assess and evaluate the learners keeping a similarity with the standard and norms as used in CBSE, ICSE and State. A number of national levels Councils NCTE, IMC, AICTE, NCERT etc. are also directly involved in this system. 

India is the bedrock of multiple education boards, such as CBSE, ICSE, and various State Boards. This diverse range causes immense confusion among parents and students. Through the evaluation by comparison and contrast with regard to these three boards, a lot of clarity can be attained. Let’s view each one of them….

1.1. Kerala State Education Board

            The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Kerala is a board of school education in India, conducted by the government of the state of Kerala, India. The board prepares the syllabus and evaluation for schools affiliated with it.

The structure is divided into

·         kindergarten (Lkg and UKG)

·         LP (lower primary, classes/standard 1–4)

·         UP (upper primary, classes/standard 5–7)

·         (H.S) High School (classes/standard 8–10)

·         Higher Secondary (+1 and +2)

Evaluation System Of SSLC

Grade	Grade Points	Range of Marks	Remarks
A+	9	90-100	Outstanding
A	8	80-89	Excellent
B+	7	70-79	Very good
B	6	60-69	Good
C+	5	50-59	Above average
C	4	40-49	Average
D+	3	30-39	Marginal
D	2	20-29	Improvement Required
E	1	<20	Improvement Required

 

The maximum marks of the Kerala SSLC 2022 exam are 640, out of which 490 marks are allotted to the written board exams, while 130 marks are assigned for the internal assessment and the rest 20 marks are occupied by an IT practical exam. The total marks scored by a student out of these 640 marks secures them a grade correspondingly.

Advantages

1. Favorable for parents without Transferable Jobs.
2. Easy availability of Textbook, Teachers.
3. Moderately loaded curriculum giving options for candidates to explore more extracurricular activities like Dancing and Sports.
4. Lower Fees.
5. More reserved seats within the state recognized colleges

Disadvantages

1. Depends totally on the State government’s competence to maintain quality of education.
2. Teaching Quality varies according to school.
3. Lack of basic facilities.
4. Content Quality (No Errors/No Printing Mistakes) may be questionable.

 

1.2. CBSE CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board was indeed a bold experiment towards inter-state integration and cooperation in the sphere of secondary education. All schools affiliated to CBSE follow the NCERT curriculum especially from class 9 to 12.

In a major change, the CBSE has decided to implement at least 40% competency-based questions for classes 9th and 10th. These competency-based questions can be case-study questions, multiple-choice questions, and source-based integrated questions. In addition to this, at least 20% of the questions should be objective type, and the remaining 40% will be short or long answer type questions for the class 10th CBSE 2023 exams. The nine-point grading system employed to measure the scholastic achievements of students are given below table.

Marks Range	Grade	Grade Point
91-100	A1	10.0
81-90	A2	9.0
71-80	B1	8.0
61-70	B2	7.0
51-60	C1	6.0
41-50	C2	5.0
33-40	D	4.0
21-32	E1	Fail
00-20	E2	Fail

Advantages

1) The diversity factor in schools with CBSE board is high as more students from different backgrounds are likely to end up in the same class.
2) Content Quality (No Errors/ No Printing Mistakes) in Textbooks’ is excellent.
3) Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), a new system of education enacted by CBSE for students of sixth to tenth classes. It removes the marking system and introduces grading system based on a series of curricular and extracurricular activities.
4) Easy to find tutors, books and other activities for all classes.
5) Focus on Science and Mathematics as well as application based subjects.
6) Recognition by every college in India.
7) Centralized system for transferring across all CBSE schools.
8) Many talent search examinations and scholarship exams such as SSTSE, NSEB, NSEC etc held at local and national level base their content on CBSE syllabus just because it is more extensive.

Disadvantages

1) Although Major Entrance Exams syllabus is based on CBSE, the fact that the seats for those courses are open for all students in India. And colleges which are coming under state universities have more reserved seats for students from state boards. So students from CBSE board who are unable to crack entrance exams face problems in getting admission in state university colleges as they have very less number of seats for CBSE Board quota.
2) Fees can be on the high side for some schools.
3) There aren’t enough options to explore in the field of Arts and Literature.

1.3. ICSE 

The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private board designed to provide an examination in a course of general education, in accordance with the recommendations of the New Education Policy 1986 (India), through the medium of English.

The syllabus followed by the ICSE board is very comprehensive and complete, encompassing all fields with equal importance. The curriculum is made up of 3 categories or subject groups named as Group I, Group II, and Group III. A minimum of 7 subjects should be selected for qualifying in ICSE. 

·         Group I; English, History & Civics, Geography, and Indian Language (for e.g. Hindi) are the compulsory subjects for ICSE. English has two papers: Paper I is language based while Paper II is literature based.

·         Group II; You can choose any two subjects out of the mathematics, science (comprised of Physics as Paper I, Chemistry as Paper II and Biology as Paper III), Environmental Science, Computer Science, Commercial Studies, Technical Drawing, Modern Foreign Language, Classical Language and Economics.

·         Group III; You can choose any one subject from the following electives available: Computer Applications, Economic Applications, Commercial Applications, Art, Performing Arts, Home Science, Cookery, Fashion Designing, Physical Education, Technical Drawing Applications, Yoga, and Environmental Applications.

Assessment

The assessment criteria are a combination of both internal and external assessment. Internal assessments are vital in ICSE. All subjects have some component of internal assessment that are carried out by schools, on the basis of assignments/project work, practical’s and coursework. There is 20% weightage for internal assessment in group I and II and 50% weightage for group III.

In subjects where there are more than one papers (e.g., Science), the marks obtained in the subject are calculated by taking the average of all the papers in the subject. Candidates appearing for the examination have to study six subjects, with one to three papers in each subject. For subject HC&G the paper 1 consists of History & Civics and paper 2 consists of Geography. Science consists of three papers each for Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. This makes for a total of eight to eleven papers, depending on the subjects. SSC results are taken from best five of six subjects (out of which English marks is compulsory).

ICSE Grading System (Internal and External)

1. External Examination

Attainment in a subject is indicated by a grade, of which Grade 1 is the highest and Grade 9 is the lowest; only Grades 1 to 7 are recorded on certificates. The interpretation of the grades is as follows:

Grade	Standard
1 2	Very Good
3 4 5	Credit
6 7	Pass
8 9	Fail

2. Internal Assessment

The standard attained in Socially Useful Productive Work and Community Service abbreviated on the face of the Certificate as SUPW and COMMUNITY SERVICE is indicated by a letter grade, of which Grade A is the highest and Grade E is the lowest. Only Grades A to D are recorded in Certificates. The interpretation of the grades is as follows.

Grade	Standard
A	Very Good
B	Good
C	Satisfactory
D	Fair
E	Fail

Advantages
1. Course curriculum is extensive, covering a field of topics to explore total growth of students.
2. CISCE prefers to give more practical knowledge and focus more on other analytical skills.
3. Subject selection option is also available to students to follow their liking for a particular subject.
4. The CISCE board has equal focus on languages, science and art and encourages students to select from diverse topics / subjects for their Class-12th exam.

Disadvantages

1. Students may find syllabus a bit clumsy.
2. Students would find it difficult to shift to other boards or Pre-Science Colleges (11-12 Classes)
3. Higher Fees.
4. Although Major Entrance Exams syllabus is based on CISCE, the fact that the seats for those courses are open for all candidates in India. And colleges which are coming under state universities have more reserved seats for candidates from state boards. So, the students from CISCE board who could not crack entrance exams face problems in getting admission in state university colleges as they have very a smaller number of seats for CISCE Board.

1.4. Conclusion

Assessment refers to collecting information on the progress of learners’ learning using a variety of procedures, and evaluation refers to making judgments on the basis of the information collected. Primary enrolment rates in India are now close to universal. However, despite progress, attendance and retention rates are not close to universal, secondary enrolment rates and learning achievement levels are not satisfactory. Teaching for successful learning cannot occur without high quality assessment. Assessment, therefore, needs to be integrated with the process of teaching and learning. Assessment needs to be designed in such a manner that it becomes a powerful means of influencing the quality of what teachers teach and what learners learn.

            It is concluded that this comparative study of the evaluation system in the school leaving examinations of State, CBSE and ICSE boards will surely help the students and parents to make a comparison among them and to opt the best one according to their own choice.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://cbse.gov.in
http://cisce.azurewebsites.net/