A for excellence

New grade system for SLC

Republica has long been batting for grade system for the annual School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations, for two reasons. First, it eliminates clear-cut "pass" and "fail" categories of the old marking system. This is important. Those deemed to have failed the SLC exams—more than 200,000 in the most recent ones—have had to face great ignominy. Some handle it well. Others lose it completely. Every year, after SLC results are announced, some students kill themselves. (Four died after the publication of latest SLC results.) The second reason we wanted grade system was to bring Nepal's school education in sync with the rest of the world's. As countless Nepali students applying to foreign universities have found out, the marks they have obtained back in Nepal are often hard to interpret for foreigners; the countries they are applying to all use alphabetical grades to rank students. So we are happy to note that, starting with the upcoming SLC exams, Nepali students will also get grades, on a sliding scale of A to E, instead of marks. It was about tim

According to the new system proposed by the National Curriculum Development and Education Council under the Minister of Education, SLC students will henceforth get grades ranging from A+ to E. An A+ (above 90 percent) will mean that the student has "outstanding" grade; those getting between 80 to 90 percent will get an A or "excellent" grade; and 40 to 50 percent marks will earn you a C or "average" grade. For those who don't do so well, they will get two grades below C, called "below average" and "insufficient" respectively. A grade of under C, on individual subjects as well as overall, will be considered undesirable. Students will, if they wish, be able to reappear for exams on those subjects. Perhaps the most notable feature of the new grade system is that even if a student gets unsatisfactory grades in some subjects, he will still be able to pursue higher studies in the subjects he is good in. This makes sense. The grades you obtain in individual subjects also hint at your penchant. So if you do well in Compulsory English, but not in Compulsory Science or Compulsory Mathematics, you should be able to pursue higher education in English literature.

There will still be some problems. Students, educators and those grading SLC exam sheets will take a little time to get used to the new system. Another concern is over the overall competence of students. Yes, a student who wants to pursue higher studies in English literature should not be stopped from doing so just because he has poor grades in science or mathematics. But, surely, passing out of school should entail at least basic grasp of these important subjects. The danger is that students will start specializing too soon, badly hampering their overall intellectual growth. So at least until grade 12 there has to be a push for a more holistic education. These gripes aside, overall, we welcome the new grade system which we believe is a better fit for our education system. The rough edges can (and should) be smoothened over time.