Although the pass percentage has dipped compared to the previous year, the number of students who secured maximum marks in different subjects and the percentage of students who secured A+ and A grade have increased.
SSLC students secured full marks in 43,661 papers this year. This is a huge jump — 73.56% — compared to 2019, where students secured full marks in only 25,155 papers.
This year, the highest number of students secured the maximum marks in the third language: 21,745 scored 100/100. Last year, only 8,138 students secured full marks in this subject. In 2019, the maximum number of students had secured the highest marks in the first language examination.
Science, however, was where many students stumbled. In a trend similar to 2019, the least number of students bagged maximum marks in science. That said, this year, there was a huge increase in the number of students who got full scores in this paper: 910 students aced the science paper, compared to previous year, where only 226 got full.
Among freshers
Meanwhile, an analysis of grades among freshers revealed that the percentage of students with A + grade had increased compared to 2019. While 5.07% of students secured the grade this year, last year it was marginally lower at 4.25%. This year, as many as 14.28% students got ‘A’ grade, compared to 13.24% who got the same grade in 2019.
Manjunath H.K., president of the Karnataka State High School Assistant Masters’ Association, said students from poor socio-economic backgrounds, who did not have a conducive environment at home during COVID-19 pandemic, were not able to prepare effectively for the examination.
“On the other hand, students who were able to attend special classes online and devote all three months to the exam got high scores as they had an advantage,” he said. The examination, which was scheduled in March/April, was postponed to June/July due to the pandemic.
Rishikesh B.S., associate professor at Azim Premji University, said the gap of three to four months between classes and the examination would have left several students at a disadvantage as the pattern of the examination is heavily dependent on the recall value that students have, and also lays heavy emphasis on rote learning.
“It is high time that we have reforms in assessment,” he said.
