240 KV school principals get showcause over poor Class XII performance

This means about 27 per cent of the 875 school principals have been asked to explain the drop in their Class XII pass percentage in comparison to 2015, and why action should not be initiated against them. The 240 schools under scanner have registered a decline between 1 and 42 per cent in their pass percentage.

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In addition to the principals, KVS has also served similar notices to eight deputy commissioners and nine assistant commissioners who are in-charge of zones covering the 240 KVs. The notices were served last month.

The Delhi region has the largest number of school heads — 17, to be precise — who have received notices. Of them, three KVs — Rangpuri, Keshavpuram and Babugarh Cantt — have witnessed a decline of 12 per cent in their Class XII pass percentage as compared to 2015.

The worst performing KV is in Zakhama, Nagaland, where over 40 per cent of the students could not clear Board examinations this year. This is followed by schools in Bathinda and Cooch Behar, where pass percentage fell by 34 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively.

KVS is currently studying the responses. If an explanation is not found to be convincing, the KV chairman, sources said, could transfer the concerned principal or let him off with a warning. The latter means no promotion for three years and a chance of the annual performance appraisal being affected.

Explaining the move, a KVS source told The Indian Express, “We want learning outcomes to be the focus. Class XII performance is just one of the many ways to measure this. Our effort will not remain limited to only Board examination performance. KVS will soon roll out other initiatives to ensure we can map learning outcomes from Class I onwards and make teachers and principals more accountable to students.”

The total pass percentage of KVs in Class XII CBSE examinations this year was 95.46 per cent.