Grading in Indian Universities

Recently THIS JOURNAL has shown considerable in- terest in chemical education in India. The articles by Professor Rrasted 145, 385 (1965)l and by Vold and Mukerjee [45,833 (1969)l have interested us in sending this communication regarding some facts about the sys- tem of grading in Indian universities. An error had crept into Professor Brasted's article about this system although he did correct it in a subsequent communica- tion [45, 632 (1965)]. The grading in Indian univer- sities docs not depend on the number of students taking the course but is done on the basis of percentage of marks obtained by the candidate at the examinations. Those who obt,airi 60% marks or above are considered A and are placed in Class I or Division. Those getting bet,ween 50 (or in some places 48) to GO% are placed in Class 11, while thosc who obtain between 36 and 50% (or 48%) are placed in Class 111. Vold's article (Table 1) correctly indicates that the number of students who are awarded Class I usually does not exceed 10% of the students appearing a t the examination. We agree that this is not an ideal syst,em and needs changes. Very often this type of grading does not correctly grade the student on his competence in chemist,ry, especially at the undergraduate level. This is because most of the universities award the division taking into account the marks obt,ained in all the science subjects as well as languages, etc., offered in the three years of his study for the hachelor's degree. Thus a student may obtain good (over 60%) marks in his subject of major interest, yet may obtain an overall lower class or division. We therefore feel that the mark sheets of his examinatious for the three years would be a more reliable guide of his

capabilities rather than the overall class that he obtains. Vold and Mukerjee have evaluated the B.Sc. and

Rf.Sc. degrees of Indian Universities. They have also suggested what credits should be given for the M.Sc. degree to a student who wishes to do Ph.D. worlc in an American university. We agree that a flexible policy should be adopted in transferring graduate credits to an American Ph.D. program. Kormally this should be decided on the individual merit of the candidate and not on the basis of the university from which he has gradu- ated. An incorrect impression may be formed that only ten or twelve universities mentioned in the article are good universities. As a matter of fact the syl- labuses of newer universities are more forward looking and in keeping with modem developments while some older institutions are conservative in changing their syl- labuses. Thus it would not be fair to ignore the newer universities simply because their data have not yet been evaluated in the U.S.

A suggestion has been made that the amount of credits to be transferred for an Indian M.Sc. may be de- termined on the adequacy of his performance in Ameri- can advanced courses during the first year of his gradu- ate work in the U.S. This could prove wasteful for a good student. For this purpose it may be worthwhile to hold a test in India for students who secure admis- sion in a US. university for a Ph.D. degree. The test could also be arranged regionally if so desired.

R. C. KAPOOR S. P. RAO

UNIVERSITY OF JODHPUR JODHPUR, INDIA