Odisha Govt To Implement Compulsory Pass Criteria For +II First Year Students From Next Year

Bhubaneswar:  Amid statewide resentment against compulsory pass criteria for Plus II first-year students, the School and Mass Education Department has decided to implement it from the next academic session.

Briefing mediapersons here on Thursday, School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said that the government had no intention to detain any student in Plus II first year. “In fact, the intention behind making the compulsory pass criteria is to make the students more sincere about their first-year courses. Since most students skip classes in the first year and are promoted to the second year without having the fundamental knowledge about the subjects, they perform poorly in the annual Plus II second-year examination,” he added.

The Minister said that there will be no change in the examination pattern this year. The aggregate marks of the students will be sent to the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) from the next year. Students securing 33 per cent aggregate marks in all subjects will be promoted to the second year and the others will be given two opportunities to clear the examination.

“Since the students had complained that the syllabus was yet to be completed and they had no time to prepare for the exam, the government decided to implement the compulsory pass criteria from next year,” the Minister pointed out.