CBSE directed its schools to award extra marks for right attitude.

Chennai: The Central Board of Secondary Education has said Class IX students can score higher marks in mathematics  or science by showing they have a healthy attitude or adequate life skills.

In a recent circular, CBSE has asked schools to award higher grades in subjects under the scholastic category, which includes English, mathematics, science or social science, to students who get exceptionally good scores in co scholastic areas where they are tested attitude towards the teacher, discipline, or leadership qualities.

All school heads are advised to explain this promotion policy for Class IX in detail to parents, teachers and students to create awareness and avoid unnecessary inconvenience at a later stage the CBSE circular said. School heads consider this directive as a reminder to schools that have failed to take assessment in co-scholastic areas.

While considering co-scholastic areas for promotion of a student from one class to the next, CBSE has said that after converting grades into grade points, a student who scores in the highest range may be upgraded to the next higher level in two scholastic subjects, and those in the second highest range may be upgraded to the next higher grade in one scholastic subject.

For instance, a child is good at debating, which reveals leadership qualities, then scores obtained in this activity could be added to the student's English scores. ''Some schools have been following this. The CBSE directive is a call for others to keep up with these proactive schools,'' said Satish.