Delay in CBSE Class 12 results: How moderation policy left million students in lurch

The delay in announcement of CBSE Class 12 results coupled with the row over moderation policy have risked the careers of many young students.

New Delhi, May 25: The Class 12 students of Central Board of Secondary Education-affiliated schools across the country are experiencing a harrowing time, these days. After the board postponed the announcement of results on Wednesday, the future of more than a million students has been put at risk, say experts.

The CBSE was supposed to announce the results on Wednesday. However, till now the board has not yet declared as when it is going to announce the results.

"We have not received any information from higher-ups regarding the announcement of results," a CBSE spokesperson said. However, officials in the Ministry of Human Resource Development said that the results could be declared in the next two days.

Students' agony

The trouble for the students started after the Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the board not to withdraw its moderation policy for the Class X and Class XII examinations held this year.

The court in its order said, "Rules cannot be changed after the game has begun". As per the moderation policy, the students are awarded grace marks for "difficult questions". Under this policy, students are awarded up to 15 per cent extra marks in certain papers in case of difficult questions.

Now, reports say that the CBSE is planning to approach the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order. In this entire legal battle, the victims are the young students who are eagerly waiting for their results to decide on their future course of action.

Admission worry

Teachers say that if the results are delayed further, the admission process of these students would be severely affected. A couple of universities across the country, including the Delhi University, have already announced their admission process.

According to an estimate, over one million Class 12 students are enrolled in 18,694 schools across India and 25 other countries. The exams were held between March 9 and April 29. Last year the results were announced on May 21.

Row over moderation policy

If the CBSE approaches the SC and the apex court gives its verdict in favour of the board, then the students won't have the advantage of scoring grace marks under the moderation policy.

The board decided to end the moderation policy last month. Last year, the CBSE approached the MHRD to build consensus among the other state boards to do away with the moderation policy.

Initially, a couple of state boards agreed to scrap moderation policy, but later backed out saying they would implement this from the next academic year.

"Since other boards have backed out, this puts the CBSE students in disadvantage. The MHRD can't force other boards to implement it from the current year as education falls in the concurrent list under the Constitution," an official from the MHRD told Busines Standard.

"Inflating marks is considered to be one reason behind high cut-off lists for admissions in colleges. Recently a study revealed that more students from a particular state had secured admissions in top Delhi University colleges as compared to the others. This was mainly because the state board generously awarded the marks," the official added.

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