By V. Shivani Reddy
Copyright deccanchronicle
Hyderabad:Telangana ranked fourth from the bottom among states in the country in Intermediate results this year. Out of 5,09,074 second-year students who appeared for the Intermediate Public Examinations 2024, 76.46 per cent passed, compared to the national average of 87 per cent.However, the state fared better in the higher bracket: 85.31 per cent of students scored above 60 per cent, placing Telangana seventh nationally, against the national average of 61.86 per cent, according to Central government data compiled across 45 boards.The results evoked a mixed response from experts. While some said outcomes varied depending on the difficulty of question papers set by individual boards, others pointed to structural shortcomings such as faculty shortages and flawed evaluation.Senior lecturer A.N.S. Sankara Rao said, “There is a lack of faculty in the state and no proper evaluations are happening. When I used to evaluate, I noticed that students who deserved 50 marks were given less than 20.” He added that many private colleges lack qualified teachers, while government colleges have them but suffer from low student attendance.Experts also argued that intermediate education has turned into a business, with less focus on conceptual clarity. Many colleges finish the syllabus by September, leaving students ill-prepared. Rao observed that pushing students into MPC or BiPC streams to chase careers as doctors or engineers, without considering their interests, further weakens performance.Lecturer S. Mahendra added that students struggle even with repeated questions due to poor understanding. He said Telangana’s exam pattern is tougher compared to other boards.A Telangana Board of Intermediate Education (TGBIE) official said efforts were underway to improve pass percentages and reduce dropouts. “Facial recognition attendance has been introduced and syllabus reduction is being considered to ease the burden. To correct errors from last year, we have also introduced re-evaluations,” the official said.
