Srinagar, Jan 17: A new evaluation system by the J&K Board of School Education (JKBOSE) has ruffled feathers, with the awarding of perfect scores to students in annual examinations triggering questions about assessment standards.
This year, the board surprised stakeholders as over a dozen students were awarded 100 percent marks—500 out of 500—in the class 10th and 12th examinations.
The JKBOSE declared results this week with overall pass rates of 84.02 percent for class 10th and 85.03 percent for class 12th. However, the perfect scores awarded to some students have ignited a debate over the board’s evaluation methods.
Traditionally, students from primary to high school level would not receive 100 percent marks in language subjects, even when answering all questions correctly. One mark was routinely deducted by default.
The new trend has left educationists confused, seeking answers to what they call the curious case of “perfection.”
“Securing a perfect score of 500 out of 500 in the Class 10 examination raises important questions about the effectiveness of the current evaluation system. When students achieve full marks, it suggests that the assessment may no longer be adequately differentiating levels of understanding or encouraging higher-order thinking,” Tariq Wani, a parent, wrote on social media.
“This situation prompts a critical review of whether such examination patterns truly measure academic depth, creativity, and problem-solving skills,” he said.
Wani called for reconsidering and reforming the examination framework to ensure it better supports meaningful learning and fairly evaluates student potential.
Educationists warn that awarding 100 percent marks in board exams risks creating unrealistic expectations and breeding overconfidence among teenage students.
“It is high time to change the evaluation system and syllabus of JKBOSE. Giving 100 percent marks may give overconfidence to students but can prove disastrous at any point,” said Shazia, a parent.
The concern is that labelling teenagers as “perfectionists” based on exam scores could set them up for disappointment in more rigorous academic or professional environments.
While stakeholders debate the wisdom of awarding perfect scores—particularly in language subjects where subjectivity typically plays a role—JKBOSE officials have defended the move as aligned with new educational reforms.
“Since the implementation of NEP-2020, the focus has shifted to conceptual learning. So be it any subject, including languages, if the evaluator feels the student has a clear concept and has written to the point, he does not deduct any marks. This is the reason why students are awarded 500 out of 500 marks,” a JKBOSE official told Greater Kashmir.
The explanation marks a fundamental departure from traditional evaluation methods that emphasised technical perfection to a new approach prioritising conceptual clarity.
However, critics argue that even under a conceptual learning framework, the complete absence of score differentiation may fail to capture the nuances of student understanding—raising questions about whether the board has conflated encouragement with rigorous assessment, and whether perfect scores truly serve students’ long-term educational interests.
