{"id":66317,"date":"2026-06-09T18:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/?p=66317"},"modified":"2026-06-09T18:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:53:19","slug":"punjab-govt-scraps-date-of-birth-rule-for-equal-marks-in-board-exams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/punjab-govt-scraps-date-of-birth-rule-for-equal-marks-in-board-exams\/","title":{"rendered":"Punjab Govt Scraps Date-of-Birth Rule for Equal Marks in Board Exams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Harjot Singh Bains announces major evaluation reforms after students\u2019 feedback to CM Bhagwant Mann<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">PunjabENews (June 9):<\/span> Scrapping the Punjab School Education Board\u2019s (PSEB) evaluation system, Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann-led state government has decided that students securing identical marks in board examinations will henceforth be awarded the same rank, abolishing the long-standing practice of using date of birth as a tie-breaker, announced S. Harjot Singh Bains, Education Minister, Punjab.<\/p>\n<p>This path-breaking decision was taken at a board meeting of PSEB, on Tuesday. The decision stems from a state-level felicitation function \u201cSitare Zameen Te\u201d held on May 31, 2026, where Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann honoured district toppers of Classes 8th, 10th and 12th. During an interaction with students at the event, some students pointed out that students with marks identical to the top ranker were placed lower on the merit list solely due to age, affecting their ranks. Taking cognisance of the matter, CM Mann directed the Punjab School Education Board to end the practice and implement a joint rank system for all students securing equal marks.<\/p>\n<p>S. Bains said that this is a historic step towards student-centric education. A student with the same marks as the topper cannot be ranked lower because of age. Under the CM Mann\u2019s visionary leadership, equal marks will now mean equal rank.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond ranking reforms, the PSEB board has also cleared sweeping changes to question paper design, aiming to curb cheating and end rote learning. The move comes after students told the CM during \u2018Sitare Zameen Te\u2019 that current papers rewarded memorisation over understanding. S. Harjot Singh Bains said, \u201cWe are shifting to competency-based question papers set by subject experts.The focus is on testing a student\u2019s understanding, analytical ability and reasoning, not how well they can memorise. Better question papers mean fewer chances to cheat. When questions test thinking, not recall, paper leaks and copying lose their value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Education Minister emphasised, \u201cOur students are the future. Every decision we take must give them fairness, confidence and world-class standards. CM Mann led government has put students at the centre of policy. PSEB will now phase out rote learning and make every exam transparent, fair and student-friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All constructive suggestions received from students will be prioritised. Further guidelines on the joint ranking system and new question paper patterns would be issued before the next board examination cycle, assured Dr. Amarpal Singh, Chairman PSEB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harjot Singh Bains announces major evaluation reforms after students\u2019 feedback to CM Bhagwant Mann PunjabENews (June 9): Scrapping the Punjab School Education Board\u2019s (PSEB) evaluation system, Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann-led state government has decided that students securing identical marks in board examinations will henceforth be awarded the same rank, abolishing the long-standing practice [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,19,20],"tags":[12298,4116,15684,12295,15683],"class_list":["post-66317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-edu-immi","category-latest","category-punjab","tag-punjab-breaking-news","tag-punjab-e-news","tag-punjab-latest-news","tag-punjab-news-today","tag-punjabenews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Punjab Govt Scraps Date-of-Birth Rule for Equal Marks in Board Exams - PunjabENews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/punjab-govt-scraps-date-of-birth-rule-for-equal-marks-in-board-exams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Punjab Govt Scraps Date-of-Birth Rule for Equal Marks in Board Exams - PunjabENews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Harjot Singh Bains announces major evaluation reforms after students\u2019 feedback to CM Bhagwant Mann PunjabENews (June 9): Scrapping the Punjab School Education Board\u2019s (PSEB) evaluation system, Chief Minister S. 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