AHMEDABAD: If wishes were horses, you would get a teacher who gives you more

than the total weightage of the paper! This actually happened to a class 10 student who was given 66 marks out of 50 marks in the

paper of science subject.

The glaring error was caught by top officials of the

Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) and the mistake rectified in time before the result was declared last month.

It was, however, not the lone mistake. In fact, the state board has been struggling with rising errors in paper checking. In academic year 2018-19, the board seived at least 7,200 papers where teachers had mistakes worth 10 marks and above.

In class 12

stream accountancy paper, one teacher gave 86 marks out of 100 to a student who had actually scored only 30 marks.

In yet another instance, a class 12 general stream student was marked 55/100 when the student had actually scored 85 marks.

"Incorrect marking by teachers during paper checking is a serious issue. Teachers will be further sensitized about being extremely cautious in paper assessment as every mark can make or break a career," said a top board official.

This year, 22,000 teachers were engaged for paper assessment of 17 lakh-odd class 10 and 12 board students. The board in the recent past has imposed a fine of Rs 50 per one mark mistake on teachers, Rs 75 on moderators and Rs 100 on coordinators. The penalty, however, has not led to any major reduction in the number of mistakes made by teachers.