Parents approve board exam appearance

KOLKATA: Several schools in the city have received approval from parents who want their wards to appear in the remaining ICSE (class X) and ISC (class XII) examinations. While some have reasoned that the marks secured by students in the pre-boards – that are to be considered in case a student does not appear in the remaining papers — have not been up to the mark, others felt that their children are now well-prepared for the board examinations.
At St James’ School, principal T H Ireland has secured approval letters from students eager to sit for the exams.“We have 135 students who have opted to appear in ICSE while the number in ISC is 70,” Ireland said.
Rajyasree Ahmed, mother of Aayan Ahmed, an ISC candidate from Rammohan Mission School, plans to allow her son to take the examinations. “Aayan has only one subject left — biology. He plans to study medicine later. Over the past few months, my son has been constantly preparing for the subject. We are expecting him to secure a good score which in return will improve his aggregate,” she said. School principal Sujoy Biswas said while 90% in ISC has opted to sit for exams, the percentage for ICSE is 75.
Ahmed added, “The school has taken adequate precautions and we also ensure that Aayan is wearing a mask, carrying sanitizer and maintain social distancing. The other option to choose pre-board marks will put Aayan under stress. In most cases, the marks in pre-boards are relatively lower than the board examinations.”
At Don Bosco High School, Park Circus, all parents have agreed to let their wards appear in the ISC examinations while in ICSE, the percentage is around 90. “Students feel that they are better prepared for the board examinations than the pre-board,” said Fr. Bikash Mondal, the principal.
At La Martiniere for Boys School, there are 223 takers for ICSE and ISC has 219 candidates. At La Martiniere for Girls School, 185 students will appear in ICSE and 144 candidates will appear in the ISC examinations. “Till now, almost 80% have agreed to sit in the remaining papers,” said secretary Supriyo Dhar. He added that the time has been well-utilised by the students to prepare for the examinations and thus, many are confident to secure good marks.”
John Bagul, principal of South City International School said the school has a total 87 students in ICSE, among whom 67 responded and 53 have opted to appear in the test. The remaining candidates have refused to sit in the test and 20 students are yet to inform the school with their choice. For ISC, all the 57 candidates are ready to take the remaining papers.
Director of Modern High School for Girls, Devi Kar, however, wants to wait till the weekend before revealing number of students who want to appear for the examinations.