Private schools operators have opposed the government’s decision to shift to letter grading system in School Leaving Certificate examinations, saying it was introduced without any homework and consultation with them.

They have said that it is useless to replace percentage system without enhancing the quality of education. The Education Ministry on December 10 had approved the letter grading system recommended by National Curriculum Development and Evaluation Council. There will be nine types of grades starting from current academic session based on the marks obtained by students for both technical and general category. The SLC Board had introduced six types of grades under technical category last year.

“The decision was taken without consulting the private educators who hold over 20 percent students,”said Karna Bahadur Shahi, chairperson of National Private and Boarding Schools Association Nepal.

Out of nine grades, students securing between 90 and 100 would get A+, A will be given to students scoring between 80 and 89, B+ to those scoring between 70 and 79, B to scores between 60 and 69, C+ to scores between 50 and 59, and C to scores between 40 and 49.

Students securing between 20 and 39 will get D grades, E to scores between 1 and 19 while N meaning ‘not graded’ would be given to students who did not take the exams or were expelled. As per the grading A+ is equivalent to four GPA, A to 3.6, B+ to 3.2, B to 2.8, C+ to 2.4, C to 2.0, D to 1.6, and E to 0.8.

There will be no pass and fail grading in the mark-sheet. However, one can take supplementary examination if not satisfied with the marks.