CBSE ‘moderate’ mess, serious blow to students

The CBSE, which has 18,500 affiliated schools, has so far been silent on whether it will challenge the decision or follow it, amid indications that it would move the Supreme Court which may further delay the announcement of results. CBSE, along with 32 other boards, had last month agreed to scrap the moderation policy. The HRD Ministry had clarified that the states have a choice to take a call on the issue. 

This week, the Delhi High Court ordered the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) not to go ahead with the scrapping of its moderation policy under which extra marks are awarded for difficult questions or questions with errors. Education boards in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Punjab have already announced results without spiking marks in the name of “moderation”. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Haryana have also announced their results, but it is not clear whether they have followed the moderation policy or not.

Ashok Pandey, chairperson of the National Progressive Schools Conference, said, “If the CBSE decides to follow the policy, then students from state boards will suffer in undergraduate admissions as they will not meet the cut offs”.

The Uttar Pradesh Board, which is yet to announce the results, has said it will follow the CBSE’s decision in this regard.