Over 28% fail in maths

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 22

As many as 93,100 (around 28%)of around 3.30 lakh Class X students failed in mathematics in the PSEB exams, while 21,965 flunked Punjabi. However, the pass percentage in Punjabi was recorded at 93.35.

Over 70,000 students flunked English, while more than 69,000 (21.17 per cent) failed to clear the science hurdle. The pass percentage in English (78.68) was better than that of mathematics (71.82).

Even as there is a dearth of mathematics teachers, especially in middle schools where a science teacher takes classes of both science and mathematics, teachers claimed that the maths question paper was quite tough this year.

“A day after the exam was held this year, we had demanded grace marks. The paper was too difficult for average students,” said Democratic Teachers Front leader Pawan Kumar, who teaches mathematics at a government school in Muktsar district.

“In middle schools, a single teacher takes classes of science and mathematics. Such teachers have to take 42 lectures per week (seven daily. With overburdened teachers, the quality of teaching is bound to take a hit,” he added.