From admission without Class X to shift of preference to CBSE; Purnadeep Chanda speaks on the conundrums 

“Ramanuj Gupta Junior College usually doesn’t hold any entrance exam for HS admission purpose. Class 10 mark sheet is the sole basis on which we take in students in higher secondary. But this year there is no exam,” Professor Purnadeep Chanda who is Principal of Ramanuj Gupta Senior Secondary School is burning his midnight oil to figure out an admission system through which it will enrol students. 

One of the most sought after School for senior secondary, Ramanuj Gupta Senior Secondary is not the only institution in this problem but most of the private setups are tearing their hair out to find a model.

“As there was no examination, either we’ll admit students based on their Class 10 evaluation, which is supposed to be out by July 31, or we’ll rather opt for Class 9 mark sheet if the admission procedure gets over before HSLC result declaration. But there won’t be any entrance or screening test for sure”, said Purnadeep Chanda.

Talking about the concern of not having an important examination like the HSLC at their disposal to help them screen for quality students for HS admission, Purnadeep Chanda said, “Yes, the HSLC used to help us ascertain which students to take in based on merit. But the overall quality of HS students have seen a steady dip in the past 5-6 years, and it’s not just due to Covid.”

The veteran professor feels, there is a larger issue with very little attention and thus hardly any answers. “Increasingly, students are now opting more for CBSE institutions rather than state board ones, after completing class 10. Even in high school, if one checks the records, starting from class 4, there has been an ever-increasing brain drain from state board to CBSE. Take for example, for the past few years, Guwahati has somehow disappeared from the AHSEC class XII final examination toppers’ list. Whereas for decades, the city of Guwahati has repeatedly produced students of sheer academic excellence. Now does that mean a city like Guwahati now doesn’t possess quality students and teachers? That can never be true,” asserted Chanda.

His view is that there is a drain of students, especially the bright ones belonging from the intellectual families, towards CBSE schools and this trend has now slowly started to creep into Silchar as well. “I reckon it will stay here for a while,” he adds.

But what could possibly be the reason behind this sudden shift of preference towards CBSE institutions? Purnadeep Chanda said that even he fails to grasp the reason behind this shift of trend. “The syllabus of CBSE and AHSEC is same now, and have been the same for the past decade. Maybe when the syllabus was different, students might have a reason to shift citing the CBSE syllabus as more insightful for higher studies or entrance examinations. But now that is out of the question, maybe the CBSE marking system provides them with a bit more marks than the AHSEC or state board curriculum. But other than that, I don’t see any feasible reason behind this shift of trend, at least from the academic perspective,” he said.

Adding, “But if you see it as a sector of education, then definitely the CBSE institutions offer much better services to their students than state board ones. If a parent is sending their child to a CBSE school, they wouldn’t have to bother about dropping or picking up their child as the school bus will be there. And that helps a great deal to the working parents, both of whom could have faced issues in the case of private schools affiliated to state boards, where school buses are rare. And this is just one issue we’re talking about here.”

Further stating, “That’s why you won’t see a single CBSE affiliated school inside the city, all of them are situated at the fringes or outskirts of the city. When it comes to the CBSE, their criteria to provide affiliation to any school or college is pretty demanding, with school buses, open playground, among other things mandatory. They receive huge funds for that purpose as well, whereas, in the case of private institutions, it’s easier to get affiliation from state boards like SEBA or AHSEC, especially if you’re planning to open a school/college inside the city. That’s why most private schools of state boards lack infrastructure like an open playground, school bus, etc. But CBSE has a much superior service for their students and parents, and they’re very strict about it as well.”