Confusion reigns in city ICSE schools over Best-5 policy

Updated on: Thursday, May 19, 2011

In several city ICSE schools, nearly half the students scored 90% or more in their board exams, results of which were announced by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. Last year, state board toppers scored over 100% after the Maharashtra government adopted the Best-5 policy, and it appears that ICSE schools do not want to be left behind. Several city schools have calculated only the best five scores of their students, which have pushed the numbers of 90% scorers to almost half of the school’s strength in class X.

Schools that did not have so many students in the elite group of 90% and above in the past now have more than 50% of their class falling under the sought-after category. For instance, of the 261 students who gave the ICSE board exam at Jamnabai Narsee School in Juhu, 124 have scored more than 90 per cent. Last year, only 86 students out of 259 class X students scored over 90 per cent.

Not all Mumbai schools, however, are following the Best-5 policy, where students’ marks are calculated based on the scores of five subjects. At St Mary’s School in Navi Mumbai, the top scorer has a comparatively lower 95% - based on seven and not five subjects. “We don’t believe in a rule that does not consider the student’s over-all effort. Our students have given equal importance to all subjects and that is exactly what we consider as the final score,” said Asha Narainan, principal of St Mary’s. Without the best five scores, the school has 12 students who scored 90% and above of 40 who appeared for the exams.

Every school is adopting its own method of calculating percentages. At Chhatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School in Juhu, which has adopted the Best-5 policy, around 150 students (of 292) have scored 90% and above. An official from the school said it is only following the rules laid down by the Maharashtra government. She said, “As the Best-5 case has not come up for hearing at the apex court this year, we are told that the interim order, which came out 2010, is applicable for this year’s junior college admission process. The policy has spiked the percentages by only one or two points.”

To add to the confusion, ICSE students across India are calculating their percentages based on all their subjects. This year, the ICSE board has not announced any national topper. In Maharashtra, 9, 602 candidates appeared for the ICSE exams. The pass percentage has gone up to 99.93, a 0.17% increase from last year. ST, SC and OBC students achieved a pass percentage of 100 in the state. The lowest pass percentage among core subjects was in economics. ICSE mark-sheets will reach schools on May 20.

Results leaked online an hour earlier?

The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Indian School Certificate (ISC) results were expected at 03:00 pm on Tuesday but certain websites displayed the results much earlier. A wall post on Facebook was enough to spread the word around.

One of the websites that announced the results at 02:00 pm was www.cisce.myschool.in.com. It was a nail-biting experience as students around the country waited for their results to be announced. Anxious students, teachers and principals stared at computer screens and clicked furiously to get to their results. Many got their results earlier than expected at social networking sites like Facebook.

As Anahita Suyansh (15) waited for her results, she was surprised to see that her friends were already aware of their percentages. Their Facebook status messages and Twitter messages displayed their percentages. “I got my result at 02:30 pm through a link that was posted on one of my group walls on Facebook. I was very surprised,” she exclaimed.

Confusion reigns in city ICSE schools over Best-5 policy

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