District Educational Officer promises to improve SSC pass percentage

Tirupati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s home turf, Chittoor district, had been in the last place in pass percentage of tenth class examinations for three consecutive years from 2015.

Though, the District Education department and teachers’ unions attribute this to the strict conduct of examinations without resorting to any unhealthy practices like mass copying, the present District Educational Officer (DEO) Dr K Panduranga Swamy was determined to move the district upward in the table by improving the performance of students.

For this, he wants to follow a two-pronged approach of providing special training to those students, who were good at their studies, and focusing on weak students by assessing their performance in every subject. Speaking to The Hans India, the DEO made it clear that that they will increase the pass percentage by minimising failures.

This can be done among other things by boosting the confidence of students especially those who were weak in various subjects. The details of such students are being collected from every school, the DEO stated and said focus will be on weak students in the next two months. “In the first step, we are identifying the students, who are failing in some subjects or all subjects.

In the next stage by implementing the adoption policy, we will make the teachers concerned to adopt those students, who were failing in various assessments. They will have special concentration and train them in such a way that they should at least pass in the public exams,” the DEO explained. Already material with expected questions named as ‘Mahasankalpam’ was prepared based on which the teachers will move forward.

Under this, the students will be trained intensively to answer some questions through which they will earn minimum marks. By having close interaction between students and teachers, they will also be counselled on the importance of passing the tenth exams and various opportunities available for them etc. and this will result in a big way, the DEO felt.

“Everything will be focused on teacher-student motivation and with this collective approach we want to move ahead,” Panduranga Swamy maintained. Wherever there is staff shortage, the gap will be filled by utilising the services of the teachers from the nearby schools. He, however, made it clear that they are not only focusing on weak students.

Special training will be given to bright students with a view to make them secure more and more marks, thus, improving their grade. All the MEOs will supervise on these matters during January–February and Deputy DEOs are to make frequent visits and review fortnightly on the progress.

When asked about the students in social welfare hostels, the DEO clarified that Mahasankalpam material was also provided to them on credit basis itself. They will organise a review meeting with wardens of these hostels to give suggestions.

“In any case, we will conduct exams strictly, as malpractice is not a solution. By improving the standard of the students only we will ensure good pass percentage in the district,” he stated.

About infrastructure during the examination time which has become a perennial problem, the DEO said that they are taking care of this issue from now onwards. Tables will be shifted from other schools to those schools which are holding SSC exams. The situation will improve significantly, he said confidently.

By V Pradeep Kumar