With the eighth amendment of the Education Act 2016, the SLC Board and HSEB historically transformed into SEE and NEB respectively. Since then these education boards have adopted the GPA grading system for evaluation, replacing individual subject marks and total percentage.
Naturally, the GPA grading system is new to the students, teachers and guardians as they were used to the percentage and individual subject marks. To actually know how their children have fared, many people seem to convert the GPA scores into percentages.
They are unaware that the GPA scores cannot exactly be converted this way.
The Office of the Controller of Examinations recently published the results of SEE 2022using the letter grading system. People are now converting the GPA grades into percentage and seem to be over the moon with what they have got.
GPA stands for Grade Point Average. This grading system is used to measure the performance of students in an academic session. It is only a numerical index that summarises the academic performance of the students in an academic year. When this numerical index is converted into a percentage, it doesn't provide the exact marks or percentage since GPA is an average marks appraisal.
For instance, if a student gets an outstanding 'A' plus grade with 4 GPA, does it mean s/he got 100 marks in all the subjects? Isn't it a mistake to convert and understand it this way? Basically, these days I have seen even students securing an 'A' plus in mathematics converting the GPA grade into percentage.
Isn't it ironic that even an 'A' plus GPA holder doesn't know the mathematical difference between a GPA and percentage? The guardians normally listen to their children, and they seem to celebrate their children's success.
Unlike some, guardians do not understand the GPA grades.
They are misinformed that nobody will fail in the SEE exams. And even the students securing low grades are confused about what to do next. If this confusion persists, it will impact the students' future, not knowing if they can pursue their goal.
GPA grading is an internationally accepted evaluation system, so Nepal too has started following it. This has been in practice for more than seven years now. It is high time students were taught about this grading system. Isn't it already too late?
Especially the Ministry of Education, concerned boards and schools must take the initiative with the help of the mathematics teacher to enlighten both students and guardians about this system. This will greatly ease the confusion surrounding the GPA and percentage.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 3, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
