PANAJI: Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (GCCI) education cell has responded to the government’s call for suggestions on the evaluation criteria to be followed for Class XII students.
GCCI has recommended that Class X and Class XI final exam marks, and Class XII internal assessment marks, be used to evaluate the students.
While making the suggestions, GCCI’s cell rued the government’s lack of timely initiative and said that if the state government had made preparations well in time, the exams could have been held online at least.
“We must note that if we were a little proactive, and had thought about how to conduct the physical examination in spite of the pandemic, by observing social distancing, ensuring safety — there was scope to do it,” chairman of GCCI’s education committee, professor Raghuveer Vernekar said.
If not through the physical mode, the examination could have been conducted online if it was planned in advance, said Vernekar.
After chief minister Pramod Sawant announced the cancellation of the Class XII board exams, the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE) had sought suggestions from the public for the evaluation criteria.
GCCI has recommended that 30% weightage be given to Class X board exam scores, 20% to Class XI scores and 50% to Class XII internal assessment.
The weightage could be suitably modified as deemed rationally fit and notified in advance.
The recommendations also suggest that admission to professional courses should continue to be based on entrance examination tests only and that Class XII scores should not carry any weightage for it.
For non-professional courses, students could choose between the marks awarded by Goa Board or appear for Common Entrance Tests.
The inputs were finalised by GCCI’s education committee, which includes director of IIT-Goa, Dr B K Mishra, head of Global Development Centre at Sanofi Healthcare, Dr Praveen Khullar, entrepreneur Deepak Pathania and Goa University professor Bernard Rodrigues among several others.
GCCI said it hoped that the state government has learnt from the experience so that contingency plans can be made in the future.
“Last minute decisions and scramble for solutions create avoidable uncertainty and apprehension in the minds of respective students.
We have no choice, but to find equitable and fair solutions for tiding over the problem, and to ensure fairness and equity to all stakeholders,” the committee said in a note to the government.