Panaji: It has been over a decade since the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education adopted the sports merit marks policy. It allowed students to be compensated with marks for the time stolen away from their academics for participation in sports events. The policy was meant to create a level playing field in academics for students inclined towards sports.However, in recent years, the number of students ‘benefitting’ from sports merit marks has gone down significantly. This particularly changed after based on central directives, sports merit marks could only be added to the academic score if the student required it to pass the exam.A couple of years after the policy was introduced, in 2015, for instance, 207 passed Class XII with the help of sports merit marks. By 2020, sports merit marks contributed less than 1% to the overall pass percentage with only 147 of the 3,098 who applied for the concession having cleared Class XII exam with the help of these marks.In 2022, 349 students availed the sports merit marks, but just nine could clear the Class XII exam making use of the benefit.In 2026, 2,626 Class XII students earned sports merit marks, and the number who passed with help of these marks stood at 87.In Class X this year too, the number of students availing sports merit marks was 6,637, while only 67 passed with help of sports merit marks.Goa board chairperson Bhagirath Shetye said that there are various reasons for this trend.“One reason is that students are actually doing well academically and may not require sports merit marks at all to clear the exam. Secondly, students, who require sports merit marks to pass the exam, their requirement of marks is much higher, but they may have only five or ten merit marks available. This may not be sufficient for them to pass. A major change came after central directives that sports merit marks could only be added if it helps a student pass,” he said.The board’s Dec 2013 circular said, “The sports merit marks shall be added to the total marks secured by a student and shown on the marks list. The total marks secured shall in no case exceed the total maximum marks.” But a circular issued on Sep 22, 2017 overruled the 2013 one.The circular said that sports merit marks earned by students of Class X and Class XII “shall not be added to the grand total marks secured by the candidate” and will reflect separately on marksheets from the 2018 public examinations of the state board.Prior to this directive, sports merit marks had turned out to be a contentious issue, especially in the case of Class X and XII students when it came to determining merit during college admissions.
