The Ministry of Education has recommended a common board for classes 10 and 12 for seven states including Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, as these states comprised 66% of failures last year. The recommendation seeks consistency in academic outcomes and standardisation of assessment processes, addressing the variableness of quality assured by the analysis conducted by the School Education Department.
Which Are the 7 States?
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Manipur, Odisha, Telangana, and West Bengal are the seven states. Ninety-seven percent of pupils are covered by the top 33 school examination boards, while just three percent are covered by the remaining 33. The country has 66 school examination boards in total, comprising three national-level boards and 63 state-level boards (54 regular and 12 open boards).
"The best option for making education easier is to use a common board for classes 10 and 12. Poor academic results are the result of not having a common board. Sanjay Kumar, the school education secretary, stated, "We have suggested that these states establish a common board.
Performance Trends
Here's the information presented in a table, focusing on the performance trends and medium of instruction disparities:
| Category/Medium | Details |
| Gender Performance | Girls outperforming boys, especially in Science. |
| Girls in Science | Over 28 lakh girls passed in Science (a reversal of earlier trends and a rise from 23.3 lakh in 2022). |
| Girls in Arts | 27.2 lakh girls passed in Arts. |
| Medium of Instruction Disparity | Students in Odia and Malayalam mediums performed significantly better. |
| Lower Performance Mediums | Kannada, Telugu, or Assamese mediums showed lower performance. |
| High Pass Rate States (Integrated Boards) | Kerala (99.96%), Odisha, and Manipur recorded pass rates above 97%. |
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Expanding Open Schooling for Student Success
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has an essential function of re-engaging students who have not had successful school experiences. This program has become the most successful model to date in Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana, where rates of failure are much lower. This approach needs to be expanded into other states. To benchmark everyone's performance, it is necessary for open school boards to agree on a standardized approach for assessment, curriculum, paper setting, promotion, and duration of exams.
In regards to the overall pass rates in open schools, only 54% of students passed Class 10, and only 57% of students passed Class 12. The NIOS, with the collaboration and support of initiatives like Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, and greater parental support, must be more aggressive in trying to reduce the study dropout rate.
