Report On Maharashtra's "Best Five" Rule

Education is defined as the process of giving or receiving systematic instruction.
It is a big word in todays world and everyone seems to be talking much about it. If we observe closely, education has evolved alongwith mankind, it has been present since the inception of humanity and continues till now and for forever. The education system has evolved over the centuries and now it has become a set rigid pattern. Talking of education, let us move towards our topic. The Indian education system has always been one of the most highly rated systems throughout the world, it is a very inelastic system with strict rules. Or so it was until now. Recently various boards, both central and state began revising their policies. irst, the central board of secondary education !cbse" decided to make the #$th board e%am optional for students in &$$'. (ome ebruary &$#$, the )aharashtra *tate board followed cbses e%ample and decided to revise its pattern by introducing the +best five, rule for class ## admission. -ccording to the rule, the marks obtained in any . of the / sub0ects in class #$th e%am by an **( student would be taken into account for admission to class ##. -n **( pass1out therefore, will be able to choose those sub0ects in which he2she e%celled, thus making their application stronger. -cademicians and parents openly welcomed this change. 3ut the happiness was short lived as the 3ombay 4igh (ourt re0ected this formula as several I(*E students and parents challenged the system, saying that the new **( system is discriminatory and even I(*E board should be allowed to adopt the same system.
- division bench of the high court in its verdict on the formula 5uestioned the formula following several public interest litigations filed by aggrieved parents of children who passed out from the Indian (ertificate of *econdary Education !I(*E" board, asking why the same facility was not available to students of other boards. It also asked )aharashtra not to start the admission process scheduled for 6une &.th for (lass ## under the 7best five7 formula without its permission. - division bench of 6ustices 6.8. 9atel and *.(. :harmadhikari asked why the same facility was not available to students of other boards, and gave the state education board time till 6une #; to file its reply. The state government then decided to approach the ape% court +the *upreme (ourt,.
)aharashtra government submitted before the ape% court that the verdict needed to be set aside as it affected the interest of over #/ lakh students who passed out under the **( !*econdary *chool (ertificate" syllabus. The hard work put in by the state government reaped benefits and on #<th 6uly &$#$, The *upreme (ourt directed that the 7best .7 rule would apply to both **( and I(*E students of )aharashtra for admission to (lass =I during the present academic year and stayed a portion of the 3ombay 4igh (ourt order which had 5uashed the rule. The ape% court>s interim order would now pave the way for )aharashtra government and the state>s *econdary and 4igher Education 3oard to go ahead with the admission process for the .,$$$1odd 0unior colleges in the state. It, however, said if I(*E students do not want to opt for the 7best .7 rule they can stick to the earlier rule of calculating the aggregate of all the seven sub0ects for the purpose of admission. The ape% court granted the students2parents to file their response within eight weeks and the state23oard to file its re0oinder three weeks thereafter and posted the matter for further hearing to October. ?ike every coin has & sides, this rule also has takers and condemners. I would like to 0oin the +taker, brigade, as I completely support the reappraisal. -ccording to me it has various benefits and is definitely a step in the positive direction for loosening our severe education system which has remained ma0orly unaltered since its institution. It is the need of the hour or may I say the current times as it will remove some of the load off the dainty shoulders of our students and give them space to breathe. In the race for the best, the competition has become so fierce that not only students but also the parents have become a part of it. To make sure that their child e%cels, the parents adopt all possible methods such as tuitions, online courses, cutting of play time and detention for low marks in e%ams. This puts the young students under great pressure. *urprisingly, most of the students actually live through all the torture, if I may be liberal, and manage to secure proper admissions. 3ut, then again, there are also children whose minds are not able to take the load and crack under the pressure, which eventually leads to drastic steps such as suicide or physical or mental harm to self. In the past few years, there has been an alarming rise in the number of student suicide cases. 8ot far behind is the number of students who need psychological help at such a young age. *hockingly, teenagers as young as #& years of age have committed suicides and what
not. To support my point I have mentioned the statistics of the growing suicide cases@ *uicide is the most rapidly growing cause of death among youth between the ages of fifteen and twenty1four. In the mid1#''$s, the 8ational (enter for 4ealth *tatistics ranked suicide as the third1leading cause of adolescent death. -lmost /$$$ Indian students killed themselves in &$$/. Thats almost a <.A 0ump from & years before. In &$$B, an average of #/ students killed themselves every day. *ince then it has only increased, with the rate having been shot up to #&. students per day. In )umbai alone, &. students have taken their lives since beginning of the year. India has one of the highest suicide rates in the world 11 and recent studies suggest about C$ percent are adolescents.
*o, it is clear from the above stats that more and more students are turning towards drastic steps due to the demanding education format. Then why not try to understand their problem and ease their load. -nother benefit !besides the saving of innocent lives" would be fair college admission process. 3ecause of this new amendment, a student can now take advantage of his2her strong sub0ects and not fall back due to underachievement in the others. This way the colleges shall be able to review the abilities of the students more precisely and correctly which was earlier hindered. I would like to conclude by saying that, every new idea faces opposition but that does not mean it is unfeasible and should be discarded. Instead people should be made aware of it, because that it what our country falls short of, -D-RE8E**E *o for me this and any other positive change in the future is definitely welcome with open arms and open mind. I hope this approach shall be adopted by our various educationists and the general Indian public for the benefit of any F every Indian child whose childhood is rapidly getting lost in this new age world.

Report On Maharashtra's "Best Five" Rule

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Education is defined as the process of giving or receiving systematic instruction.

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