Cause Of Concern

A meticulous research on the performance of SLC students disseminates its findings

By THAKUR AMGAI

The results of SLC examination has always been a cause of concern to everyone. The low pass rate in the SLC exam that averages at 30 percent is a serious concern to every one.

With the joint effort of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and financial support of Education Sector Advisory Team (ESAT) of DANIDA, various studies on student performance in SLC were conducted over the last one year. The findings of the study were disseminated recently at a function in Kathmandu .

The team led by Dr. Kedar Bhakta Mathema, former vice chancellor of Tribuwan University , conducted several studies related to SLC. “While some of the findings of the study are merely documentation of the common sense, others are quite the opposite that could shock you,” said Dr. Mathema addressing the participants of the one-day dissemination seminar.

The research team identified that our exam system is the most conservative element of the education system. They also stressed that the failure of the exam system will spoil the entire education system.

The pointed out different reasons for a low pass rate such as poverty, flaws in the examination system, marking of answer papers, the disparity in privileges, diversity of geographical and ethnic communities, among others. The team has recommended various options that could be adopted in order to improve the performance of students in the SLC exams. The study advises including the course contents of grade 10 only in the SLC exams like the CBSE board of India , to give subject pass certificates, make all or at least most subjects optional, among others.

The examination system with six compulsory subjects and two optional subjects is also to be blamed for the low pass rate and the large content of the curriculum is one of the chief reasons to be blamed for bleak performance in SLC, the report states.

Likewise the need to pass all the eight exams is another reason for a low pass rate. Many countries in the world have a long list of optional subjects and the students choose and give a certain number of exams. They are required to pass a certain number of subjects.

The study on SLC is conducted at a time when the debate is on whether to consider the class 10 or the class 12 exam as the school leaving exam. The government had started the plus two classes about a decade ago with a policy to phase out the intermediate level from the University and include grade 11 and 12 in the school level. However, even after 10 years, the government has neither been able to phase out intermediate level from the University nor has it been able to annex it to the school level. There are still more than two hundred institutions providing higher secondary classes without a secondary base.

The Education Secretary Chuman Singh Basnet informed that the government is doing homework to identify whether to consider the grade 12 or grade 10 as the final high school exam.

The study also pointed out the grave issue of disparity among students from various backgrounds. The disparity between public and private schools, boys and girls, rural and urban schools is very wide. One of the reports pointed out that in 2060, the average pass rate of private schools was 85 per cent while the pass rate of public schools averaged at mere 38 per cent. However, the larger chunk – 79 per cent – of the examinees came from public schools, imparting greater impact on the overall pass rate in SLC. Likewise, the report pointed out that the average score of girls was about 7 percent lower than that of boys.

New Life Within SAARC

Last week, the Institute of Foreign Affairs organized a two-day regional seminar titled “New Life Within SAARC” in Kathmandu . The seminar was attended by participants from SAARC countries including K.V. Rajan, former Indian ambassador to Nepal , who also presented a paper.

Nepalese industrialist Rajendra Khetan presented a paper on enhancing the intra-regional cooperation. His paper delved into various aspects like the reasons for poor intra-regional trade within SAARC compared to similar economic blocs elsewhere. The intra-regional trade of SAARC countries stand at meager 4 percent of their total annual trade.

Khetan’s paper talked about the potentials of SAFTA to bolster intra-regional trade. He also compared SAARC with ASEAN and the future of SAARC-China cooperation to uplift the economy of the region.