Dubai: Stripped of its competitive fervour, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) grade 10 results were published on Friday, without much fretting and fuming over marks and percentages.
Thousands of Indian pupils from the UAE qualified for their secondary school certificate acquiring grades and not marks. This is the first time pupils were assessed on a nine point scale ranging from A1 (excellent) to E2 (dissatisfactory) with D being the minimum pass grade.
The grading system is introduced in order to do away with the unhealthy competition among pupils and parents. However, Gulf News received calls in plenty from parents and schools eager to find out the toppers.
"My daughter has scored A1 in all five subjects and her CGPA (Cumulative Grade Points Average) is 10 out of 10. I want to know whether there are pupils who have got similar scores," said Nathan, a father from Dubai who refused to give his first name.
Similarly, schools were also in the race to find out which institution has got the highest number of pupils with 10 CGPA.
Pupils who topped in all subjects were those who were not full happy with the grading system. Zoubia Fathima, a student of Indian High School, Dubai said though the grading system brings some relief from the tough competition, it is not fair on pupils who are in the top league.
Comparison
"But for the students who aim to be toppers, they definitely want to know their marks and see whether somebody else has got a higher score," said Fatima who has clinched a CGPA of 10 points.
Fourteen other pupils from her school have got similar scores.
"The grading system has its pros and cons. In this case, for instance students who have got 96 per cent and 91 per cent are put into the same slot. There is a lot of difference between the two scores," said Fatima.
Asok Kumar, CEO of the Indian High School said the mindset of people will change over time and the grading system will be accepted.
"Students are in a range of marks and as many candidates can fall into any slot, which means everybody can be a winner. That is the best thing about the grading system," said Kumar who is also a member of the governing body of the CBSE board.
Regarding admissions to various streams as they move to the higher secondary school, Kumar said schools can either consider the marks they scored in the model examination or have an aptitude test for pupils. "The system will mature by next year and there will be clear guidelines on admission procedures," he added.
A total of 5149 pupils from 49 schools in the UAE have appeared for the exam. According to CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma, 98.77 per cent pupils in the Gulf region have been declared eligible for the certificate, as compared to 89.28 per cent in India.
Gulf pupils have outperformed their Indian counterparts in the pass percentage. Girls outshone boys with a 99.29 pass percentage against the boys' 98.25 pass percentage.
This year, a total of 886,338 pupils took the class 10 board exams in India and abroad.
Many parents who preferred the grading system to percentages told Gulf News that this year there was great pressure on pupils. "It used to be a traumatic experience for the whole family. Children spend sleepless nights worrying about the results and there is pressure from schools to claim ranks.
"I feel this is the best system as there is no mindless competition among students, and exams do not give them nightmares," said Krishnan Menon, father of a grade 10 student.
From this academic year, there is no board exam for CBSE grade 10 as the Indian ministry for Human Resources Development (HRD) has scrapped the board exam and made it optional.
