Amritsar girl's plea prompts CM Mann to end PSEB's age-based ranking policy

Chandigarh: A Class X student's question at a state function on Sunday prompted Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann to scrap the age-based tie-breaker used to rank students with identical scores in board examinations.The change came after Gagandeep Kaur, one of three students from Amritsar district who secured 637 marks each in the Punjab School Education Board examination, questioned why students with the same marks were being assigned different ranks based on age.Speaking during the Punjab govt's ‘Sitaare Zameen Te' programme, Gagandeep said she, Tanvir Kaur and Rajpreet Kaur had all secured the same marks but were ranked first, second and third because of the age criterion. "If all of us have the same marks, why should age decide who comes first?" she asked after AAP Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia invited students to suggest one change they would make if they were education minister for a day.Responding, Mann said: "For us, all of you are first."Gagandeep, however, persisted, pointing out that only one student had been called on stage as the topper.Sisodia praised the student's confidence, saying: "I am so happy. This is education, that a student can tell the chief minister that ‘your system is wrong and I have been left behind'."When Gagandeep argued that all three students should be declared joint toppers, Mann immediately directed the education department to revise the policy. "From now on, rank will be decided on the basis of marks only and not on the basis of age," the CM announced.The decision means students securing identical scores will henceforth share the same rank instead of being separated through an age-based tie-breaker. Tanvir, Gaganpreet and Rajpreet had each scored 637 marks in the Class X examinations.End VIP culture, say studentsThe interaction formed part of a session where AAP Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia invited students to suggest reforms they would make if given a chance to serve as education minister for a day. Students raised a range of issues, including the need to end VIP culture in education, improve primary-level textbooks, make board examinations more skill- and competency-based, increase reasoning-oriented questions, discourage rote learning and eliminate cheating. Responding to the suggestions, Sisodia said the country's examination system required a fundamental overhaul. He argued that examinations should assess the overall competence and abilities of students rather than rely solely on a three-hour test, and criticised recurring paper leaks such as NEET for undermining students' futures.Mann hails ‘Sikhya Kranti'Chief minister Bhagwant Mann, meanwhile, highlighted Punjab's improved performance in national education rankings, the growing presence of girls among board toppers and the success of 359 govt school students in JEE Main. He said the state's "Sikhya Kranti" was beginning to yield results and credited government schools for producing confident and competitive students.‘School infra improved significantly' Education minister Harjot Singh Bains said the govt had significantly improved school infrastructure, claiming that unlike earlier years, no student in Punjab's govt schools now had to sit on the floor to study.