National Examination Board (NEB) implemented the letter grading system in 2075 B.S. This came amid the wave of internationalization of the Nepali education system, of which percentile grading system had in the past repeatedly faced criticism in the academic community for its obsoleteness. The grading system also aimed to eliminate the trend of marking students with an ‘F’ to curb demotivation among the thousands of students that failed every year. However, this system only managed to remove the mark ‘F’ from the report cards as students are still subjected to disappointment as well as humiliation caused by low grades. Here is a quick tale of the trends in Grade 12 results after implementing the letter grading system.
In the year 2075 BS, 2,99,675 students were registered for the examination in the regular category, out of which, 17,140 students could not appear in the exam for various reasons leaving the total number of examinees at 2,82,353. Similarly, the number of examinees in the category increased to 2,92,099 in 2076. A total of 54 registered examinees could not complete their examination due to various reasons in the same year. This year the number of examinees who got their results published stands at 2,98,826 after the results of 11,490 candidates were held back. Out of the total number of examinees in the regular category this year, most of the students achieved GPAs between 2.41 to 2.80 (B). This is an improvement in the results considering the fact that the maximum number of students in the previous two years achieved GPA between 2.01 to 2.40 (C+).
The latest grade 12 results show an increasing trend in the number of students that scored less than D+ Grade, which is the minimum requirement for enrollment in Bachelor level programs. The percentage of students that scored less than D + (0.81-1.20 and 0.00-0.80) increased to 6.07%. The number stood at 5.77% and 1.74% in 2076 and 2075 B.S. The overall performance of the examinees is also improving every year. The number of students securing more than the average grade has increased every year, with the latest projections being even better, dramatically so. Students achieving more than the average grade of 2.1-2.40 (C+) stood at 34.81% in the year 2075 B.S, it increased by a mere 1.74% in 2076. However, this number rose to 74.61%, a whopping increment of 38.04% in 2077 B.S.
The improvement in this year’s results has been attributed to the adjustments in the scoring system as well as final examinations made due to the lingering threat of the pandemic. This year, the board took the final examination of a total of 40 marks. The remaining scores of 40 and 20 were accredited to the students on the basis of the assessment of grade 11 and the internal assessment made by the educational institutions themselves. Along with the changes incurred in the scoring system, the extra time of 6-7 months that the examinees could utilize before exams also played a major role. They also fared better this year because 40% of the exams were held at the home centers. The quality of the papers as per the authorities are said to have been ensured as the exam papers evaluated at home centers had been reevaluated at the examination board.
Many students, parents, academicians, and critics alike are, however, critical of the marking system. This might be because of the hassles they have to face every year during the time of examination, result publication, and so on. They believe that there’s a lot of room for improvement within the system. Some are even of the view that the results this year don’t fairly reflect the capacities of different students as they believe more leniency was accorded to the examinees by NEB in the aftermath of the pandemic.
