Alternative Grading System for Class 12 to Prevent Indian Students from Leaving Foreign Universities

The Central Government announced the cancellation of CBSE board exams for this year last week, putting an end to the uncertainty surrounding Class 12 Board Examinations.

CISCE and state boards quickly followed suit. Boards are currently developing an alternative grading scheme for students. Thousands of students across the country have breathed a sigh of relief as a result of the decision, particularly those who wished to study abroad.

"The uncertainty was getting too close for comfort. Students would have already got admission offers months ago (based on their marks in class 9-11) and just needed their class 12 results to finalise the admission. If the exams or results had been delayed beyond July, students would not have got their CBSE certificates and American universities would have lost out on a huge tranche of undergraduate students," said Glen Besterfield, dean of admissions, University of South Florida (USF). 

According to data from the Ministry of External Affairs, there were more than 10.9 lakh Indian students in 85 countries as of the end of January 2021. Nearly two lakh of these students were in Canada, and nearly 1.9 lakh were in the United States, with the UAE coming in third (nearly 2.1 lakh).

To begin a bachelor's degree at an American institution of higher learning, students must first confirm with the institute that an equivalent of a US high school diploma has been awarded prior to the start of the semester.

According to Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and CEO of study abroad platform Leverage Edu, it is reasonable and logical for schools to release provisionals or predicted marksheets to assist students in continuing with their applications without causing delays.

While universities are willing to accept provisional marksheets for the time being, class 12 percentage is an important criterion, and we do not see universities evaluating applicants who do not have it.

"Universities are accepting provisional marksheets and predictive scores with almost all courses being offered during the January 2022 intake. This would enable students unable to join the September 2021 intake because of delays (if any) to join their cohort in 2022 intake. However, universities haven't made any further communication on assessment methods yet, but all eyes are on the alternative assessment methods to be adopted by Indian boards," he added.

According to a spokesperson for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, admissions will be confirmed based on their class 12 grades. 

"We understand that the CBSE and CISCE Standard 12 examinations have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will use the class 12 results generated by respective examination boards to confirm applicants' offers. To allow more time for the students to prepare for their application, we are still accepting applications where places are available," the spokesperson said.

For the class of 2021, USF has already received 4,298 applications from Indian students (for both undergraduate and graduate programmes) and has admitted 1,355. In 2020, the varsity received 2,932 applications (undergraduate and graduate) and admitted 1,128 students for the fall and summer semesters.

According to Kavita Shukla, vice president, student recruitment, Amity University Dubai, foreign admissions are unlikely to be affected because all international universities have adjusted their admissions policies in response to unforeseen circumstances arising as a result of a global pandemic.

"Since our academic year commences by mid of September each year; we are continuing to issue conditional offer letters based on predicted grades submitted by the students. There is some delay in the final confirmation of seats by students and parents after the cancellation of class 12 board exams as schools are now holding internal final exams in the coming months (June and July). The results are expected to be announced by the end of July or the first week of August," Shukla added.

Indian students make up the majority of the varsity's student population, and last year, nearly 70% of the more than 1,000 Indian applicants enrolled in their respective courses. This year's applications are still open, so the final admissions data has yet to be processed.

Besterfield stated that if exams had been held and results had been delayed past July, students would not have been able to enrol for fall 2021 and would have missed out on their scholarship, which can account for up to 70% of the tuition fee.

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