Multiple reasons for drop in Class-X results

Visakhapatnam: In the Mahabharata, they cite myriad reasons for the tragic death of Karna. In a similar manner, there seems to be several reasons behind the low percentage of SSC results this year.

Although the pointers were towards Covid-19 pandemic at large, change in the exam pattern, shift from online to offline mode and dip in seriousness among the students happen to be a few among various factors.

After a gap of two years, the SSC examinations were held in April 2022 in Andhra Pradesh and the pass percentage was 67.26. And such a poor percentage has become a serious topic to debate over among cross-section of society.

Like all other sectors that suffered a hit in the past two-and-a-half years, the pandemic has impacted the education sector as well. But the pandemic alone is not to be blamed as experts cite different causes for the drop in the overall pass percentage.

For Class X students, the syllabi of Classes VIII and IX play an imperative part. Since the previous two academic years were hit by the pandemic and some classes were conducted online, lack of uniformity in the teaching pattern and absenteeism has left an impact. "For Class X students, the curriculum of Classes VIII and IX form a part of the foundation. Since they were affected due to the pandemic and several students had missed online classes due to lack of smart phone and Internet facilities, it has invariably shown in Class X results," says E Pydi Raju, state secretary of State Teachers Union.

The advent of online classes has paved the way for several distractions. Falling prey to uninterrupted Internet access, mobile games and chatting with friends, a majority of students could not concentrate on their studies as they used to while going to school.

According to experts, the load for teachers had increased manifold as they were engaged in a number of non-teaching tasks, including uploading photos of midday meals, condition of toilets, Nadu Nedu works and ensuring implementation of some of the government schemes, etc. It has literally distanced the teaching community from their core duty as they had little time at their disposal to complete the curriculum. These apart, the new reforms brought in this year such as change in the exam pattern, shrinking of two papers into one for the subjects, removal of multiple choice questions eventually took a huge toll on the results.

In the past two years, Class X students could get through the academic year without appearing for exams. "This gave them a ray of hope that a similar pattern would be followed this year as well. Due to which, seriousness was absent while preparing for exams," opines K Vidya, a parent from Sujatha Nagar.

The delay in commencing the academic year, reluctance among parents in sending their wards to school for weeks due to the fear of the pandemic made many students skip portions that lasted for two to four months. "The delayed start affected the students' learning capacity as they could not cope up with the curriculum later," adds G Madhu, a school teacher.

With most parents of the government school students being uneducated, they could not encourage their wards to prepare well for the exams. This, experts observe, sums up to the poor pass percentage of Class X results.