English centum baffles academicians

Ganges93

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posted on 13 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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COIMBATORE: R Saranya must speak and write flawless English. How else does one justify the centum in English she was awarded by th..

COIMBATORE: R Saranya must speak and write flawless English. How else does one justify the centum in English she was awarded by the evaluators?
The topper of Government Girls High School at Negamam, who secured a total of 488 marks in the Matriculation stream, stunned language experts on Friday after being the only student in Coimbatore to rack up a perfect score in English. She narrowly missed out on a centum in Mathematics, with a score of 98.M Balaji, a student of Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School in Ponmalai, Tiruchy, too secured a centum in English. He attributed his success to a strong foundation in grammar.

But, linguists and academicians were not impressed. "I find this very hard to believe and have very little to say," said Viola Krishnamani, director of Vishwavidhya, an international study circle.

She wondered if such a student would be able to compete successfully on a national level or even stand a chance of clearing standard examinations, like the IELTS or the TOEFL, for admission to foreign universities.

Pointing out that the standard of English had dropped a tad, Viola said the liberal system of marking was bringing it down further.

Dr Elango, English professor at Anna University, Chromepet, dubbed the centums as "absolutely absurd".