GRADE INFLATION HELPS NO ONE, END OBSESSION WITH MARKSISM

ONCE again, grade inflation, an unsavoury academic ritual commonly practised by school boards and higher educational institutions in India, has sparked nationwide discussions. The catalyst this time is a viral audio clip featuring Shanavas S, Kerala's director of general education, who denounced the practice and reprimanded officials responsible for lowering the state's educational standards.

- JOHN J KENNEDY

Simply put, grade inflation involves awarding higher grades than students really deserve through artificially-heightened schemes. Take the classic example of what happened during the Covid outbreak when all institutions were practically shut down for nearly two years. Despite the evident learning gaps that were quite perceptible during and immediately after the pandemic and multiple research studies confirming the same, students across the 33 school boards in India received grades that portrayed them as teenage prodigies. Notably, CBSE classes 10 and 12 boards in 2021 showed a pass percentage of 99.04 percent and 99.37 percent respectively, and those scoring above 95 percent jumped to 38 percent in class 10 and 81 percent in class 12. In Maharashtra, the higher secondary certificate results saw a 1,000 percent rise in the 90 percent category. Not surprisingly, the trend continues unabated, with a significant number of students scoring 100 percent in almost all subjects, including arts, humanities, and social sciences. Such inflated pass percentages and a surge in high scorers raise serious concerns about the integrity of the evaluation process.