ICSE kids score big on critical thinking but maths, Eng ‘could have been better’
Times of India | 7 May 2024
Kolkata: A 10% increase in critical thinking questions in the ICSE examinations contributed to the high scores with CISCE-affiliated schools reporting a robust performance in the Class X boards. Principals said the results could have been better had students scored higher in maths, physics and English papers.
“This kind of question pattern helped students score well.They were not difficult but were questions which focused on clarity in conceptions instead of rote learning,” said Modern High School principal Damayanti Mukherjee.
Sudiksha Keshan from La Martinere for Girls, who scored 99.4%, said, “The application-based critical questions helped in concept building. It also gave us an edge in scoring good marks if there is clarity about the subjects and their concepts.”
Anushka Chakraborty from Modern High School scored 99.2%. She felt the new curriculum emphasizing analytical thinking over rote memorization helped her score better, and prepared her for future challenges.
While a high pass percentage of 99.5% meant that very few students were unsuccessful, most prominent schools in Kolkata reported a significant number of students who had scored above 90%. In La Martiniere for Girls, 81 out of 189 students scored above 90%. At La Martiniere for Boys, 115 out of 234 scored over 90%. At Ram Mohan Mission School, 64 out of 202 students scored over 90%. At Don Bosco School Park Circus, 124 students had scored above 90%. At Calcutta Girls, 94 out of 134 students scored over 90%. At Modern High School, 82 students out of 152 who sat for ICSE scored above 90%. At Julien Day School Kalyani, 59 out of 143 examinees scored above 90%.
Ram Mohan Mission principal Sujoy Biswas said he was happy with the school’s overall performance, which was similar to last year’s. But several other school principals felt the results could have been better had scores in some subjects, like maths, physics and English been slightly better.
“It is not that the scores are poor. But the number of candidates who scored in the 95% range in physics is lower than expected,” said Mukherjee of Modern High School. Don Bosco School principal Bikash Mondal felt scores could have been better in English.
“The trend in above-90% marks remains the same and students’ scores are satisfactory. However, there is a drop in mathematics score this year because students may have had difficulty adjusting to the new question pattern,” said Terence John, principal of Julien Day School, Kalyani.
La Martiniere for Girls principal Rupkatha Sarkar also said the maths score has dipped slightly. “The number of students scoring 90% in maths is slightly lower this year. The English scores in ICSE are also a bit low. However, students have coped well, taking into consideration the new assessment pattern,” Sarkar said.