Spring back to success

I have scored 49 per cent marks in Class XII CBSE exam, though I expected a much better result. Should I appear for the exam again? I am very confused and depressed.

Rupina Joshi

Board results are not always a true mirror of a student’s abilities. At times, they can be very unpredictable. You can apply for verification of marks within 21 days of the declaration of results. The forms can be collected from designated schools. You can re-appear for the Plus Two exam as a private candidate from your own school or directly from the CBSE. However, you will have to surrender your previous marks, so make sure your performance is really good this time.

Application forms for the secondary and senior school certificate exam for private candidates from Delhi region are available from mid-August up to early October. Check with your own school or from your state board for details. You can also appear for the CBSE Class XII exam through Patrachar Vidyalaya (D/ education, government of NCT, Delhi). The Delhi senior secondary exam is conducted by CBSE for students studying through distance learning mode in three streams. For details log on to www.delhi- govt.nic.in .

Personal contact programmes are held on Sundays and other gazetted holidays as well as in the autumn break at several schools in the city.

The third option is to take the Class XII exam through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). NIOS provides you an opportunity to study and clear a subject in which you may have fared poorly either in high school or Plus Two. Exams are conducted twice a year in May and November. You can appear in as many subjects you like at a time. Incidentally, you are permitted nine attempts. The fourth option is to go for a bachelors degree through distance learning offered by DU’s campus of open learning. If you do really well in the first year, you can even hope to migrate to a full-time course in the second year. Also, even if you were to complete your graduation entirely through distance learning, your degree certificate will not mention anything to that effect. Moreover, a good percentage at the graduation level will compensate for a relatively poor performance at the school level.

Of course, the latter option may not be ideal for you if your heart is set on pursuing a professional course such as engineering, medicine or architecture after Class XII which cannot be done through correspondence or pursued at the postgraduate level unlike some other professional courses such as MBA, MCA, mass communication and law which are open to students of all streams.

As for students who have got a compartment in any subject, they need not lose heart either. If it’s any solace, over 50 per cent students under the CBSE board flunk their Class X exams. And the number of those who have failed in two subjects runs into lakhs.

Earlier, only those students who failed in one subject were allowed to take the compartment exams. However, now even those who fail in two subjects are allowed to do so, on an experimental basis. This means that you now get a chance to improve your grade by taking the exam in August. The results will be out in September. If you have scored better than an “E” grade (on a nine-point scale), you can join the rest of your classmates in Class XI.

Examinees taking the CBSE secondary / senior school certificate exams because they failed in the previous attempt now have three chances, instead of two to clear the compartment exam. What’s more, in a welcome move, the CBSE board now provides a consolidated mark sheet to students. It will not show whether the marks have been acquired through the main or the compartment exam.

Until now, the compartment was indicated on the initial mark sheet, while a separate mark sheet was issued for the compartment subject/s, which often proved to be a stigma, creating problems of acceptability in many places. Incidentally, over one lakh students of Class X and 37,500 of Class XII took the compartment exams last year.

Flow with the stream

I have just passed Class X with 88 per cent marks. I have done equally well in all subjects. Although I have occasionally dreamed of certain careers in the past, I have no marked preference for any. I would like to do well in my exam and get down to a well-settled peaceful life in the future. And that is the cause for confusion: what should be my stream in Class XI, or for that matter, in the distant future? What fields would be open for me?

Ananya Chowdhry

It’s difficult for me to direct you to a specific stream without assessing your career aptitude or interests, but I will give you some suggestions which may help you select the stream that will suit you.

You can switch over from science to commerce or arts, and from commerce to arts, after Class XII or even after graduation, but not the other way round.

Two subjects are so valued that if you are good at them, you may earn a living from them, even if you have no money to start with. Maths is valued all over the world. I have heard of some private maths tutors earning Rs 1-2 lakh a month, even in cities like Ranchi and Bokaro.

And English is valued highly in every country with a non-English speaking majority, because it is the international language of business, communication and technology.

Choosing a career that’s just right for you involves more than just finding out what options are open to you based on your fields of study. Knowledge about one’s career aptitude is central to the process. It is essential therefore to look at your individual values, interests, and skills in order to relate them with the career options open to you.

If you are confused about what stream to opt for (as most children your age are), or if you are not quite sure of the range of study and career options that are compatible with your personality and interests, you might consider taking a good career aptitude test.