The changes will not do injustice to students who excel in sports as they can avail
of the five per cent quota reserved for them during admission to junior college
The 25 grace marks for students excelling in sports will
be given only to those who fall short of passing marks, the Maharashtra state board
of secondary and higher secondary education explained here on Saturday 10th Dec.
The board has scrapped the practice of allotting grace marks to all students excelling
in sports as it suspected misuse of the provision because there was an unprecedented
rise in students claiming grace marks. Board chairwoman Ujjwaladevi Patil said:
Students who need grace marks for passing and have excelled in sports will be eligible
for the 25 marks. Everybody who claims the grace marks will not get it even if they
are eligible. The board found that suddenly there was drastic rise in the number
of claimants for the sports grace marks. It sent a proposal to the state government
to scrap the system and lay norms in giving grace marks. The proposal was accepted
and declared by the state school and sports departments.
The changes will not do injustice to students who excel in sports as they can avail
of the five per cent quota reserved for them during admission to junior college,
Patil explained. Participation in sporting events that are endorsed by apex bodies,
the School Games Federation of India, Sports Authority of India and the State Sports
Council, Maharashtra, only would be considered for sports quota marks. Students
should have participated in such sporting events between June and February of their
current academic year for claiming the quota marks.
The government has asked the directorate of sports and youth, and the state sports
associations to publish the names of students excelling in sports on their website
for public information. The board will also upload the newly-framed rules and regulations
for claiming the sports grace marks on its website in the coming days.
Courtesy: Times of India
