Jamshedpur, June 1: The state government is planning to keep the doors of elite schools open for Jharkhand Secondary Education Board toppers.
It will issue a whip to colleges across the state not to deny admission to the top-10 rank-holders.
One of the Jharkhand board toppers, Kumar Mangalam, with a score of 86.2 per cent, was refused an application form by Delhi Public School, Bokaro. The matter was later brought to the notice of the education ministry, which decided to frame a suitable policy.
Sources in the ministry said liberal marking by the ICSE/CBSE boards as compared to the state board has brought about the “anomaly.”
Kumar Mangalam, a student of Netarhat School wanted to take admission in Plus-Two at the DPS, Bokaro, where the minimum cut-off mark is 96.6 percent.
Education minister Pashupati Nath Singh said students passing out from Netarhat School were capable of facing any entrance test in any college across the country, but it was a matter of shame that “one of them was were denied an admission form by a public school in the home state”.
“I understand that this is happening due to technical reasons. But we are trying to find a solution by fixing a quota. We will place the issue before the Cabinet and ensure that the toppers get admission in any of the schools or colleges they want to,” the minister said.
Justifying the government’s stand, Singh said refusal of admission form by a college was demoralising for the students. “The trend has to be stopped. We have decided to evolve an admission system for secondary board toppers, but the nitty-gritty will be decided at the Cabinet meeting,” he said.
When queried, the minister said: “Under the Jharkhand Secondary Education Board, the copy examiners do not mark students liberally. If found doing so, the examiners, most of whom are from government high schools, have to face suspension. But under the ICSE or CBSE system, the pattern of marking is different and examiners can give more marks, be it literature or science.”
Hailing the decision, a teacher of a local school said, “It is time that seconadry board students were not discriminated against by the central board.”
