Over board

Welcoming the decision to keep the boards optional,Swapnil Jaykar,a class X student at Crescent High School,is sad that he has no option but to appear for the boards this year. “I wish I was appearing for the exams next year! There is a lot of pressure from peers,teachers and parents to perform well in the board exams. A class X student is too young to handle such expectations. I would rather prefer to study more and love my topics than be bothered about whether I make it in the merit list or not. No boards along with the grading system would have been an ideal condition for me,but for now,I have to settle only with the grading system.”

Seconding his opinion,Vivek Kumar of Mitkeys High School says,“There are scholars and then there are average students. Those who have been scoring high percentage and dreaming to make it in the merit list might get disappointed by the decision of grading system,but for average students like me,it is certainly a good decision. As far as preparing for the exams is concerned,it hardly makes a difference when you know what your potential is!”

Neha Ansari and her friend Nimish Rajendra Padwarker seem to conflict on the grading system. “With grading system,I would lose the extra edge that I have over other students. The percentage system is about neck-to-neck competition where every mark counts,but with the grading system,it just does not make a difference if someone scores one mark more than the other,” says Ansari a student of the Army Public School. Padwarker on the other hand says,“Grading system is a boon for the students. It not only puts fewer burdens on students,but also reduces the fear they have about exams. I am definitely in favour of it and happy that it is happening this year.”

The board exams along with the merit list have been a package that has been a source of motivation for generations of students. Not only that,this well-established system has also been the major USP for classes and academies not only in the city but also across the country. “The grade system will kill the competitiveness of the students. This is just the first year of the system and it will take years before it is proved and well established like the earlier one,” says Prakash Ramchandra Marathe,director,Maratha classes.