High pass rate at what cost? Near-full marks handed out to push up SSLC pass percentage

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Generous marks in continuous assessment have helped push up the SSLC pass percentage in recent years, with records of the Pareeksha Bhavan showing that students were awarded marks close to the maximum. The practice helped schools take credit for pass percentages of up to 99.99 per cent. In the March 2025 SSLC examination, the state average for continuous assessment was 9.99 out of 10 in subjects carrying 10 internal marks and 19.99 out of 20 in subjects carrying 20 marks. The same pattern was seen in previous years. These figures represent the state average of marks awarded in each subject.

Teachers at schools award the continuous assessment marks. The internal and written examination marks are combined, and students securing 30 per cent are declared to have passed. Malayalam, Malayalam II, Hindi, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Information Technology carry 10 internal marks each, while English, Social Science and Mathematics carry 20 marks each. For a subject carrying 50 marks, a student needs only five marks in the written examination to pass when the 10 internal marks are added. For a 100-mark subject, 10 marks in the written examination are enough when the 20 internal marks are taken into account.

Continuous assessment marks are supposed to be awarded based on projects, assignments, seminars, presentations, quiz competitions, group discussions, experiments and class tests. However, these requirements were largely ignored. As the pass percentage became a matter of prestige for individual schools, the prescribed criteria were pushed aside. Even students who failed to secure the minimum marks in the written examination were able to pass with the support of continuous assessment marks. In a 50-mark subject, for instance, a student can pass with 9.99 marks in continuous assessment and 5.1 marks in the written examination. In a 100-mark subject, 19.99 marks in continuous assessment and 10.1 marks in the written examination are enough to pass.

Among students who passed the SSLC examination in 2025, Chemistry recorded the lowest average marks, with a state average of 18.91 out of 50. The average was 41.24 out of 100 in Mathematics and 43.46 in Social Science.

Students passing despite getting their own names wrong

It is clear that the pass percentage would have fallen sharply had marks not been awarded so generously in continuous assessment. There was widespread criticism over the fact that students unable to write even their own names correctly were reaching the SSLC pass list. In response, the LDF government had decided to introduce a minimum mark requirement in the written examination for every subject from this year. However, the UDF government recently issued an order withdrawing that decision.