In this file photo, aspirants participate at an Army recruitment rally held at the Rangapahar Military Station, Dimapur on March 10, 2021. (PRO Def Kohima/Morung File Photo: For Representational Purposes Only)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 9
A section of the youth in Nagaland, aspiring to join the Indian Army, is facing a unique predicament. They have the required Class 10 passed certificate issued by the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE). But a quirk in the grading scheme followed by the state Board has come in the way, technically rendering them ineligible for recruitment.
In the Nagaland leg of the 2022 recruitment rally conducted at the Rangapahar Military Station, Dimapur, some 300 candidates were turned away because the NBSE’s grading scheme conflicted with the HSLC qualification criteria set by the Army. These were out of approximately 3600 candidates, who had signed up for the physical/medical trials conducted from September 7 to 10.
As elicited from the army recruitment office (ARO), the issue was this— “The NBSE passes students in Class 10 based on their performance in 5 (core) subjects with English being compulsory. However, students are permitted to opt for an additional sixth subject, whose score is generally not considered for passing the student.”
In the event of an examinee falling short of the minimum pass mark/grade in one of the 4 core subjects, barring English, the examinee is still declared ‘qualified,’ provided she/he passes in the optional 6th subject.
On the other hand, the Army’s educational qualification criteria correspond to the grading scheme adopted by the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE). The CBSE’s Class 10 curriculum has 5 core subjects and a student has to pass in all the subjects to qualify for the next higher class.
Besides certain fitness requirements, Class 10 passed is the minimum educational qualification to join the Indian Army as a Sepoy or Rifleman. It demands that a candidate should obtain the minimum qualifying mark/grade in all the subjects, optional or not, reflected in the marksheet issued by any Board. “For enrolment in the Army under General Duty category, it is mandatory that candidates should have scored aggregate 45% and minimum 33% in all subjects mentioned in the (HSLC) marksheet,” the ARO maintained.
In the case of the 300 odd candidates, they had not obtained the minimum 33 percent or ‘pass mark’ in one of the core subjects but were declared qualified because they obtained the minimum ‘pass mark’ in the additional 6th subject. The subject in which they did not get the requisite ‘pass mark’ is also displayed in the final mark sheet though it is not accounted for in the overall total. It is an accepted standard when a student opts for higher studies, but one which conflicts with the Army’s ‘passed in all subjects’ eligibility norm.
In the March 2021 rally, as many as 105 applicants were disqualified for the same reason.
It was after this that the ARO approached the NBSE in November 2021, through the Sainik Welfare Board with a request to address the conflicting norms, disclosed one recruitment officer. The suggestion was the NSBE making an exception by issuing fresh/duplicate marksheets for the 105 candidates indicating “only the marks of the passed subjects.”
The request was complied to, but the fresh copies did not bear the unique serial numbers attested to each marksheet.
Another request was subsequently forwarded with a suggestion to print fresh/duplicate marksheets bearing the serial numbers. This request was turned down on grounds that changing the content of the original document would tantamount to manipulation.
The ARO further said that there are instances when a candidate, who have scored less than 33 percent in the optional 6th subject but have passed in all the 5 core subjects become ineligible for enrolment. It added that if the score of the optional subject, which is not accounted for in the overall total, is not reflected in the marksheet, a greater number of candidates from Nagaland would be able to apply.
“The intention is to enable more youths to apply and participate in the annual recruitment rallies,” commented one officer on condition of anonymity.
Addressing the issue however is difficult part. On this, the officer held that it would require sensitization at the policy-making level and affecting changes in the NBSE grading scheme.
Queried on the Army making an exception for candidates from Nagaland, he said that the Army’s HSLC qualification criterion is an all-India standard. According to him, the grading system of no other state has come into conflict with the Army’s educational qualification norm.
Meanwhile, there was no word from the state Board. The NBSE Chairperson did not respond to a request, by The Morung Express, for comment on the matter. Another official replied that he was aware of the matter but declined to comment in an official capacity.
