Following the low pass percentage of the recent Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) results, Education Minister Rakkam Sangma today acknowledged that the government is concerned about the issue and is considering policies that would boost students’ marks.
One such idea that has been mooted is to adopt ‘step marking’ as is done in the CBSE and ICSE exams. The Education Department will hold a meeting to consider this further.
In mathematics, for example, step marking gives students credit for showing their workings even if the ultimate answer is incorrect. Currently, MBOSE does not employ this system, instead awarding zero marks if the answer is wrong even if some of the workings are correct.
Other issues weighing down on the pass percentage will require more work than a tweak in the marking system. Sangma said that schools in rural areas often lack a strong educational or administrative foundation, which affects their students.
“So, this year we will go all out to meet teachers and train them better,” he said. “It’s not about the buildings or infrastructure, it’s about the teachers. We have to make them dedicated to make students happy to learn. The foundational problem is something we are facing right now in the quality of education because children drop out in Class 8 and 9 when they don’t enjoy learning.”
Concerning the recruitment of teachers, the minister said that the upper primary interview recruitment is going on in East Khasi Hills and advertisements for remaining vacancies will be issued this month.
