THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
The academic community including headmasters of schools and principals of higher secondaries have strongly expressed their displeasure at the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education's (GBSHSE) recent decision to offer students of Standards IX and XI an additional opportunity to clear these standards, while promoting them to the next class even before they clear their exams.
In fact, the Goa Headmasters Association (GHA) is going to discuss the issue in their upcoming meeting, before making a representation to the Goa Board to rethink its decision to allow students of IX and XI who do not clear to "keep terms". Principals and headmasters are also angered that the Goa Board has not yet conveyed their decision to schools via any circular.
The newly-elected president of the GHA Marian Valadares, who is the headmaster of St Andrew's High School Goa Velha, told "The Goan" on Monday that the headmasters were "totally against it." "No official correspondence has come from the Goa Board. But according to what has been reported in the media, students will be allowed to go to Std X without clearing IX. What will be the future of these students? Will they focus on the portion of Std IX or X? It will be a total disaster for the students," said Valadares. "The decision definitely required more deliberation, and the Goa Board officials could have consulted stakeholders at the grassroot level before taking such a huge decision," he said.
Walter Cabral, principal of St Andrew's Higher Secondary School, Vasco, who is an executive committee member of the Principals Forum and an academic member Goa Board questioned the Board's decision to have separate rules for students of IX and XI, and those of X and XII.
"The promotion rules need to be uniform. Nowhere in India such a system is followed. The principal's forum was not represented at the executive council meeting where this decision was taken," said Cabral.
Vilas Satarkar, headmaster of DB Hedgewar High School, Cujira, shared Cabral's views that key stakeholders should have been called before taking a decision that affected the whole state.
Meanwhile, Mhalsakant Deshpande, headmaster of Vidya Prabhodini High School, Porvorim, said that the Goa Board has not given clear-cut instructions as to how many attempts the students would be given to clear their Std IX exams. He also lamented, "Even though the child will be sitting in Std X, if s/he has failed in all the subjects of IX, it will be highly impossible for the child to cope with the subjects of Std X."
Other heads of institutions were concerned with discipline problems this decision would create if implemented, as well as the space constraints of the classrooms. Vice-principal of Loyola Higher Secondary School, Margao, Walton Noronha, said it would be a task to get the students of Std XI to study on time with this new rule, as they now know that they will get promoted irrespective of whether they clear or not.
Fr Cedric Fernandes, headmaster, St. Britto's High School Mapusa also questioned what the state of education would become if students were being given additional chances despite being given four opportunities during Std IX to clear, plus condonation and sports marks, plus supplementary exams in two subjects.
Fr Fernandes also expressed disappointment with the parents who had gone to the Goa Board officials with the request that prompted this drastic step.
"No headmaster would purposely hold back a child who cannot cope and fails in many subjects. Parents and students should, by the end of first term, know where they stand and still have two more exams to improve upon. They take things too lightly and then go to the Board to pressurize for a change," he said.
Suggesting a compromise, Fernandes recommended that the Board give supplementary exams in the month of May, but students that fail should not be promoted to Std X.
