The CGPA Syndrome - Reality versus Myth

1.65 lakh students scored a “perfect” , 10 CGPA  in the Board Results announced by the CBSE  a few days back  .I don’t blame the parents when they plastered  the social media with messages like “ I feel proud that my son / daughter has scored  a perfect 10 .I always knew that you had it in you .You have always been a very hardworking child” . All that could be true – but could also NOT  be true .The fact of the matter is that when you get a  10 CGPA , it means that anyone  who scores between 91 percent in lets say  Maths is equal to someone scoring 100 marks in Maths .But isn’t there a contradiction ? Yes there is and that is something which is misleading and is detrimental to the child and leaves vast arrears of manipulation for schools to “project” themselves as “better” than the real good schools .How ?

Lets understand the system .The CBSE  introduced what is called a CCE ( Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation ) Scheme much to the angst of many eduactionists ( certainly me ). To reduce “tension” for the school going child –it introduced a grading and point system ,and a assessment system which introduced a huge element of subjectivity into the assessing process ( introduction of Formative and Summative components in exams ).In other words -reducing tension meant that it made the 91 percenter feel the same as a 100 percenter .Or for that matter the 71 percenter feel the same as a 80 percenter and so on .Students were "equalized " across a 10 percent scale .But that is not the way things are  in life .I mark can make or break your entry into a college ,university or a IIT .

The following were AND ARE  the grades –

1.A1 – for 91 to 100 marks ( grade point is 10)
2. A2 – for 81 to 90 marks  ( grade point is 9)
3. B1 – for 71 to 80 marks  ( grade point is 8 )
4. B2 – for 61 to 70 marks  ( grade point is 7)
5. C1 – for 51 to 60 marks  ( grade point is 6)
6. C2 – for 41 to 50 marks  ( grade point is 5)
7. D – for 33 to 40 marks  ( grade point is 4)
8.E1 – for 21 to 32 marks  ( no grade point)
9.E2 –for 00 to 20 marks  ( no grade point)

As noted above – there is no difference between someone who gets 91 marks and 100 marks .They both get 10 points But there is a difference between someone who gets 90 marks and someone who gets 91 marks – the one who gets 90 is allotted 9 points whereas someone who is getting 91 gets 10 points .So across 9 percent there is no difference –but across 1 percent there is a difference !! 

THIS IS IN SHARP CONTRADICTION WITH GRADES AWARDED IN 12^TH CLASS WHERE EVERYONE WHO GETS A1 ARE  NOT THOSE WHO GET BETWEEN 91 AND 100 .THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE IN THE TOP 12.5 PERCENT OF THE STUDENTS WHO TAKE THE EXAMS .HENCE YOU CAN SEE SOMEONE WITH 75 GETTING A A1 GRADE BECAUSE 75 MARKS MAY BE AMONG THE TOP 12.5 PERCENT MARKS OF THAT SUBJECT .THE 12^TH BOARD RESULTS ARE THEREFORE MORE REFLECTIVE OF WHERE A CHILD STANDS IN COMPARISON WITH OTHERS IN BOTH HIS SCHOOL AND IN INDIA .THIS IS NOT THE CASE OF 10^TH RESULT. IT WAS LIKE THIS BEFORE THE PREVIOUS GOVT INTRODUCED THE CCE AMIDST GREAT FANFARE .THEY CONVERTED THE GRADES FROM A PERCENTILE (12.5 IN EACH CATEGORY OF MARKS TO ABSOLUTE OF MARKS OBTAINED .YOU NEED NOT BE IN THE TOP 12.5 PERCENT TO GET A 1 GRADE .YOU NEEDED TO GET 91 AND ABOVE - EVEN IF EVERYONE ELSE WAS GETTING IT  .THAT IS WHERE THE PROBLEM STARTS !!!!

Having understood the first contradiction – move onto the next and bigger one .A student who gets (LETS PRESUME ) 91 marks in each of the 5 subjects gets 50 points (10 *5). So his average is 10 CGPA( Cumulative Grade Points Average ) which  is the average of Grade Points obtained in all the subjects (excluding additional 6th subject) as per Scheme of Studies (Sum of all the Grade Points (GP) of each subject must be divided by 5.)

For e.g., suppose the GP for- Subject 1 is 9, Subject 2 is 9, Subject 3 is 8, Subject 4 is 10 and Subject 5 is 7( for what is 10 ,9, 8, 7 ,6 , etc refer to the table above )

Then the sum of GPs will be: 9+9+8+10+7=43.

Dividing 43 by 5, we get 8.6 which is your CGPA.A CGPA can never end on a uneven number because any 2 digit number (as all cumulative CGPAS are ), divided by 5 will always end as a whole number or have a even number as a decimal .So no student can have a CGPA lets say 5.1 or 6.3 .This is important to understand .

However as explained above –if you get 9 points it means you could be anywhere between 81 to 90 marks – that is a huge 10 percent gap .

Now look at all those kids who got a CGPA OF 10 .Amongst them there could be children who scored 100 in each subject and have  a average of 100 .Among them could also be students who scored 91 in each subject and has a average of 91 percent .But they are equal . While it may generate a “feel good” factor among the kids and parents ( desirable ), it could generate a feeling of despondency among the more brilliant ( undesirable ).You are not choosing horses for courses  here .How do you allot a stream with limited seats if there are a lot of kids with high CGPAs ? Previously we did this on the basis of marks -each mark counted as a difference .Now there is a huge spectrum which entitles even a child of 71  percent the same entitlement as a child with 80 percent .I know a lot would argue ,that it was precisely for this reason that absolute scales were introduced -to cut out the "decimal raj" so to say .But unfortunately the cure is worst than the disease !! 

The worst and highly objectionable part of the scheme is that all papers  consist of 2 parts –The Formative and the Summative .So within those 100 mark paper is a 60 mark, paper and pen exam( Summative)  ,and a 40 marks “non paper and pen” Exam( Formative)  .Both exams are conducted by and in  the school ,and the results are then sent to CBSE  for certification and a “thappa” ( seal).!! Herein lies the biggest problem .While giving Formative marks (40 ),the teacher /school has a wide discretion( remember its not a pen and paper exam essentially) .And since the summative  papers are being assessed by teachers who know students ,and their parents – a wide discretion and subjectivity  is exercised here as well .The teachers and Principals  in a attempt to project themselves and their school  as a excellent  academic institutions– give very generous marks !! You can be sure that a child getting 89 marks in a subject will be given 91 because it will help him /her get a “perfect 10”!!. Sometimes Principals fall into the trap of pressures from parents (influential) or friendly .Sometimes they fall into the trap for a one day fame of their school getting huge number of perfect 10 CGPAS !!.Sometimes entire mark lists are changed to make sure that a child gets a perfect 10 in each subject or even a CGPA of 9.8 or 9.6 –because it is on the basis of CGPA that streams are allotted in the 11^th class  !! I know of schools in which children get a CGPA OF 10 and yet get a compartment in 12^th (where papers are checked by examiners   with no names or roll numbers on them ) and marks and percentages are given ,and where .5 percent –yes point 5 percent – can make or break your entry into a good college .

The bottom line is – this business of CGPA is highly subjective ,prone to manipulation ,does not separate the wheat from the chaff ,the boys from the men ,the girls from the women !.It does not allow you to choose between horses that should run the race and those  who should  not , and wrongly presumes that anyone who gets 91 is equal to 100 ,or who gets 81 is equal to 90 .This is what is causing our  education system to get caught in a trap of mediocrity .The CBSE , passed and outsourced the markings of papers to the schools because they found it cumbersome to check laks of  answer sheets. The schools ( some of them ) walked into the trap .The system quickly started leaking .Intellectual dishonesty set in.Of course the mediocre students felt less stressed .But for how long ? 

What should be done ?.Of course the best thing to do is have a huge number of colleges and universities that can absorb students into their fold after they pass out from schools .The tension is not because of the syllabus or the pattern of exam ,but because a child is all the time worried whether he will will get admission in a good college or university,and then a good job  .Its a tension arising out of scarcity -not syllabus or exams .But clearly as a nation we are not willing to spend that kind of money on education, and creating more jobs . ( China ,Korea ,Finland do that ).  But one thing that must be done immediately is to prepare 12^th mark sheets alongside  with that of the 10 grades  .If there is a wide deviation between the marks of a child in the 10^th and the 12^th ,then the defaulting schools must be  punished and disaffiliated . Secondly –the Grades in the 10 th Class must, like the Grades of the 12^th Class be based on comparative abilities of child –which means everyone who gets lets say  91  must  not be eligible for A1 Grade .He /she should be placed in that category if he/she is among the top 12.5 percent of the children and so on .

But can we do that ? Do we have the guts ?Is our aim an attempt to reflect merit or is it populism ?  Yes we can –and we should change the system  .Its a matter that affects  the future not only of the child but India as well .

I am very fond of narrating a tale of  a Principal who posted on Facebook  some years back  , that she was enjoying ras malai at a prominent sweet shop of a city because about 90 percent of the children of her school got 10 CGPA .!!I knew the school well and could not believe it . Sadly , after 2 years the children tanked and did disastrously in the 12^th class -5 of these 10 CGPA kids failed the exam !! Obviously the result had been manipulated in the 10th– the ones to suffer were the kids .The bubble burst .

As for me – I rather have a “samosa” , than a rasmalai !! So what if it looks brown and is cheaper than its fairer and more glamorous sweet !! So what if  only 30 percent of my school kids get a CGPA of 10 .( which by the way is huge !!).One must resist the rasmalai if one is a diabetic !!

I hope I haven’t spoilt the party .Anyway – marks or no marks ,it’s vacation time , so cheers !!.

( P.S. I know that children can opt for the CBSE conducted exams -but hardly anyone does so becoz its easier to get get marks through schools where teachers and Principals know the children and parents whom they are assessing ).