Significance of CBSE mark in Professional Education

Any person who has prepared for challenging service by thorough and disciplined scholarship and training and who lives and works in the spirit of professional standard, may well be recognized as a member of a profession. Professional education is the process by which a person  prepares  for exacting, responsible service in the professional spirit.

Board exams are the most important stage in the academic life of any student in India. Good score in this exam ensures admission in good professional course or college. There used to be a time when a student scoring 60 per cent marks in Class 12 could walk into any college and get admission in a course of his choice. However, today the scenario is quite different. The cut-off lists of top colleges like St Stephens, Hindu College, Sri Ram College of Commerce, Miranda House, Lady Shri Ram and Sri Venkateswara college  are giving both students and their parents harrowing, anxious moments.

The notice board on most colleges read:  B.Sc (Honours) Physics -- 81.67 per cent; Maths -- 85 per cent; BA (Honours) Economics -- 91 per cent; Political Science -- 83.1 per cent and so on. In St Stephens College, the college which every student dreams of entering, is believed to get its graduates the best of everything -- be it in the civil services or scholarships abroad.

Less number of seats in professional courses like engineering and medical cause people to appear for multiple exams so that they can secure a seat in at least one college. Also, when one does secure a seat, one has to compromise on the branch allotted. Hence, there comes the  dilemma of whether to give the institution a higher priority or the branch of one–s liking. Majority of the people due to less number of marks in their board exams end up going for a course they did not wish to join, thereby giving their creativity and dreams an early death.

Engineering is one of the preferred options for those who want to pursue professional programmes at the UG level. Government has announced major changes in the Join Entrance Examination (JEE) for IITs. Only Students who secure first class (60%) or equivalent in the plus two examination will be eligible for admission to the IITs. However there will be a relaxation of 5% for SC/ST students. Further the number of attempts has also been brought down to two. Students would be allowed to take the JEE in the year they pass the 12^th standard examination and the following year only.

Therefore students seeking IIT admissions cannot ignore their Class XII exams a first class in the board exam (at least 60%) is the new eligibility for IIT admissions. Only two JEE attempts will be allowed and anyone who joins an IIT can't take the examination again to aim for a higher rank. As the  IIT-JEE is conducted in two parts, the screening test eliminates nearly 90% of the candidates, while the main examination selects nearly 4,000 students. Nearly 2 lakh candidates appear for the screening test; of these, only 20,000 appear for the main examination. In an attempt to re-introduce a degree of seriousness about the school-leaving exam (class XII boards), students will now have to secure at least 60% marks to qualify to appear for the JEE.

This focuses on the significance of school system thereby enhancing the credibility of the Board examination.

Foe several other under-graduate programme like LL.B. (Hons.) the university offers a five year LL.B. (Hons.) Degree programme preparing students for the Bar and other careers in Law. The  Eligibility requirement involve 10 + 2 Examination or equivalent with not less than 50% marks.

Looking into the perspective of education abroad the selection in for adimmision to Canadian Institutes require a good percentage in the board examinations. For computer science studies for Undergraduates the eligibility requirement include 70% in twelfth board exams. Further for studies in Engineering, 70% in twelfth with maths, Physics, Chemistry, & English is required.

Taking into account the Civil service which is the backbone of the Indian government machinery constitutes all the departments which runs the State administration. A highly competitive and challenging area, it involves a variety of jobs in different departments. The prestige and power that comes along with these top-notch jobs is a definite reason for anybody to join this profession. The salary, allowances and facilities like housing, healthcare, conveyance etc. also make it a lucrative profession.  

Entry into the IAS, IPS and the Central Services is through the All India Combined Competitive Examination for the Civil Services conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). For candidates who clear the preliminary round, there is the main round. The second stage is the main examination that includes written tests and an interview. Fortunate to crack the entrance exam one can be questioned on the poor performance of ones board exam to which optimum weightage is given.

To help students acquire their goals the CBSE has also introduced with the scholarship for students. The objective of the CBSE merit scholarship scheme is to provide scholarships for professional education of medicine and engineering in the institutes participating in CBSE conducted All India Pre Medical/ All India Engineering Entrance Examinations, or Central Govt.  controlled/ aided institutions. The scheme is aimed at providing financial assistance to the brilliant students to enable them to pursue higher studies. The candidates whose names are appearing in the merit list of CBSE AIPMT(Final) Examination and CBSE-AIEEE Examination shall only be considered eligible for award of CBSE scholarship for pursuing a professional course.