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Sometimes, Board marks do matter

We are often told marks are not the only parameter to judge one's potential, however, there are times when they do matter, of which we should be aware

SHIVANSHI KHANNA 6 Stories

Sunday June 12, 2016 , 4 min Read

It is that time of the year again, when 12th pass outs are excited about deciding which college or university they choose to study in, or the other way around: which university accepts them as an eligible student.

Of course, one can certainly not deny that the marks a person scores in their board examinations cannot be linked to how successful they will be in the future, however it will be hypocrisy on our part to completely fail to recognise its importance in certain cases.

So when do marks not matter ?

In order to understand when marks do matter, we need to have a look at the other side of the argument, which states that boards percentage does not matter at all.

You will often find many people tell you stories about how they scored a mere 50 percent in their class 12th examination, yet went on to be quite successful in life. The stories will be true, no one doubts or is questioning that, however what we need to see through is the fact, who tells us such stories ?

Do these people happen to be either lawyers or doctors or engineers or writers or stand up comedians or actors or musicians ? If so, then we need to wake up to our own selves. What these people present to us then, is just a partial truth: that board marks cannot decide who will be successful eventually in life, however what they hide away is the fact that these people never required their board percentage in order to become who they are today.

In India, to get into a prestigious law college or medical college or a fashion designing institute, what you require is to appear for their separate examinations and not your board percentage which is accepted as a criteria of entry by some colleges. In order to become a successful musician or an artist, all you require are skills, which no amount of marks can ever match.

If this is the case, then why are we claiming that board marks do matter in certain cases?

As stated specifically above, board marks do hold their importance but only in certain cases.

This means that we still have certain colleges that consider board marks as a basis of selection to the various programs they offer. Getting entry into your dream college can be denied to you even if you score just half a mark less than the required cut off, and that is exactly when our board marks seem to receive some importance.

For example, one of the best University of India, Delhi University admits students into various colleges by checking if the student matches the cut off of the specific college course.

Thus, in such cases, where in a university gives admission based on your class 12th board percentage, it will be but hypocrisy to claim that marks do not hold any importance at all. We are not stating that if you get less marks in class 12th you will fail in life. Marks that you score in class 12th have nothing to do with your success in life. People can always perform better in life despite horrible class 12th result. However, to assure students that their class 12th marks are just an hype and hold no value is also wrong.

Thus, when advising students, what should be kept in mind is this that we need to present them the most honest image of our current education system. If a person wants to pursue law or medical or any other filed that requires its own set of examination to be cleared, then their board marks are not significant. However, if they wish to go to universities that provide admission on the basis of their class 12th percentage, then their board marks do hold importance.

Again, getting into a good college does not assure that life will be like a bed full of roses and those who do not get into such colleges might lead a life of regret, what certainly cannot be denied is the fact that in order to get into some of the so called 'dream colleges' board marks are considered and thus become important for all such students wishing to get through these colleges.