The Ministry of Education yesterday issued a notification modifying the existing grading to measure the aptitude of students in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations this year.

The new grading will have an additional letter grade of A- (minus) with its grade point (GP) at 3.5. And a student with an F (below pass marks) in any subject cannot enrol in higher studies. However, the highest grade point average (GPA) remains the same at 5.0.

From now on, individual results in the public examinations will be published in terms of GPA on the basis of a seven-step letter grading instead of six steps.

The steps are A+ for GP 5.0 (80-100 marks), A for GP 4.0 (70-79), A- for GP 3.5 (60-69), B for GP 3.0 (50-59), C for GP 2.0 (40-49), D for GP 1.0 (33-39) and F for GP 0.0 (0-32).

Previously, the steps were A+ for GP 5.0 (80-100), A for GP 4.0 (60-79), B for GP 3.0 (51-59), C for GP 2.0 (41-50), D for GP 1 (33-40) and F for 0.0 (0-32).

Examinees who will not get F grade in any subject and whose GPA will be at least 1.0 will be considered passed.

In a particular subject, an examinee has to secure pass marks separately in every part -- objective, essay-type, theoretical and practical - to pass that subject, said an education ministry press release.

If a candidate secures pass marks (GP) in a minimum of four subjects in SSC/Dakhil or three subjects in HSC/Alim exams, he/she will be allowed next year to sit for exams of other subjects.

However, the government abolished a provision for allowing the examinees securing F grade in one subject and GPA 1.5 and above to enrol in the higher class on a temporary basis.

Grading was introduced for SSC/Dakhil in 2000 and will apply to HSC/Alim as well from this year, doing away with the age-old system of first, second and third divisions, merit list, star marks and letter marks.

The education ministry said schools, colleges and madrassahs have to introduce the same grading in internal examinations.

In the result-sheet, GPA will be mentioned besides the roll number of every successful candidate, while the roll number of an unsuccessful candidate will be marked with F. However, subject-wise details will be mentioned in the tabulation book.

The education boards will issue certificate to successful candidates with mention of GPA ratings, not division.

The examinees will be given transcripts, instead of marks sheets, with grade points secured in every subject and the GPA, the ministry said.

"This is a timely decision because the previous version of grading needed modification," State Minister for Education ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon told The Daily Star.

Pointing to the problem of high score in some descriptive subjects like literature, he said students would score better marks if an appropriate questionnaire is prepared and teachers change their attitude that students cannot score more than 80 in descriptive subjects like literature.

"He said the system might be upgraded further in future but teachers' training for preparing questionnaire and evaluation of student's copy is necessary," he said.

Students and guardians alike were confused about the modification to the grading after erroneous reports by some newspapers.

The upgraded version aims at striking symmetry by reducing the class difference of the alphabetical grading, education ministry officials said.

The GPA will be calculated through inclusion of marks of the fourth subject of SSC, HSC, Dakhil and Alim examinations from 2004. At present, the result does not reflect the fourth subject marks.

The system has disheartened brilliant students and their parents who say it does not measure merits.

The ministry decided to upgrade the system following a set of recommendations including lowering of the difference between grades, application of different methods for different papers to assign marks and separate marking for two-paper subjects, sources in the ministry said.