By IANS,
Panchkula (Haryana) : Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Tuesday met teachers and students and outlined the changes proposed in education, but managed to evoke only mixed response.
At the interactive session organised by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Sibal’s proposal to scrap Class 10 board exams and to introduce a grading system remained the hot topic of discussion.
“Though it was an interactive session, many questions are still unanswered in our minds. It is never advisable to bring a change in our decades-old education system in a single go,” a teacher, requesting not to be named, told IANS after the session.
“Nobody can doubt the intentions of Kapil Sibal but in this case, he should be doubly cautious. He should first implement this grading system as a pilot project in some selected schools and based on the feedback it should be implemented in other institutions.”
A Class 10 student said, “It seems that the government has already made up its mind and these interactive sessions are just a formality.”
“We do hard work for the whole year just to obtain good marks in our final exams. But if there are no top positions or percentages, then what is the use of hard work? This grading system would certainly affect the quality of students,” said another student.
Some teachers welcomed Sibal’s initiatives.
Ashish Sharma, a parent and a government school teacher, said: “Class 10 board exams put undue pressure on students. A grading system would certainly end the cut-throat competition that in some cases also causes depression among the students.”
“We want our HRD minister to introduce similar parameters even in colleges and in universities,” he added.