Opinion Ruined by options
Though I believe in equity of opportunity for all,I do not think parity between students from different education...
Though I believe in equity of opportunity for all,I do not think parity between students from different education boards can be attained by either imposing the percentile system or the reservation of quotas for a certain section. The percentile system imposed last year,and the recent proposal by the Maharashtra government to reserve 90 per cent of the seats in junior colleges for the state board students would have inconvenienced ICSE and CBSE students to a great extent.
The percentile system was forced upon Mumbais junior colleges just two days before they were to display the first lists for admission to Classes 11 and 12. This meant admitting students based not on their percentages in the board examinations but a complex calculation of their percentiles. Meant to create a level platform for students from the three boards,the attempt led to confusion and a high court order against implementing the system. The ruling also stated that admissions policy must be announced well in advance.
On June 8 this year,barely a week before the announcement of state board Class 10 results,Maharashtra Education Minister Radha-krishna Vikhe Patil announced a proposal to reserve 90 per cent seats in junior colleges for state board students henceforth. According to Patil,the reservation would bring parity among the various boards. Since state board schools outnumber others and since all Marathi-medium students belong to this board,all parties are backing Patils proposal. Needless to say,non-state board schools,teachers and parents of ISCE and CBSE students have threatened legal action.
ICSE and CBSE tend to face discrimination at the level of degree colleges too,as most colleges give first preference to their junior college students. Our country has so many different boards; it is difficult to compare students across boards. Change in that direction is certainly welcome. Why,indeed,cant we have just one uniform board that is credible,unbiased and consistent in every part of the country? I feel sorry for parents and children who move from one part of the country to another. This certainly does not help the cause of mobility of the labour force. And we talk of the world shrinking and the merits of a global world!
Almost 90 per cent of students who pass their 10th standard from our school opt to study in our senior secondary section while around 10 per cent switch over to the state board. Enforcing the proposal would require us to increase our seats in our 11th standard to accommodate more students.
Till we have a single board,instead of running down competing boards with some considering themselves more elite,others more application-oriented and still others more wide reaching or having the local flavour its time these boards,even if they have to co-exist,learnt from the best practices of the others and upgraded themselves and left the relative ranking to the parents when they choose where they want to put their children. I am sure if there is political will,a meeting ground can be arrived at and with proper moderation and mediation,a solution can be found.
For certain,we cannot put our childrens future in jeopardy by arbitrarily deciding any course of action. A lot of deliberation,thought and consensus is the need of the hour. The course content of the various boards and the evaluation and marking schemes need to be assessed by a non-partisan committee and recommendations made.
And for all those parents who are confused as to which board is better and preferable,my answer is that it does not matter which board the child is studying in; in todays competitive world (and competition is not just local; it is not just within the country; it is on an international level today),it is the institution that matters,regardless of the board it is affiliated to. There are excellent schools under every board which have gone beyond the boundaries set by any educational board. They believe in delivering good education and they integrate the best practices of all boards.
The writer is principal,R.N. Podar (CBSE) School,Santacruz express@expressindia.com
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