Move follows five-day shutdown of Aaple Sarkar portal; teachers and parents raise concerns over digital shift and separate processing fees
Students who have excelled in sports at the district, divisional, state, or national levels are eligible for grace marks. Representation Pic/istock
The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has extended the deadline for submitting proposals for grace marks to sports students of Std X and XII.
The move comes in view of the scheduled maintenance of the ‘Aaple Sarkar’ portal, which will remain inaccessible from April 10 to 14. Initially, the last date for district sports offices to submit the proposals online to their respective divisional boards was April 15. With only one day available after the portal reopens, the state board has now granted an extension until April 21 to facilitate the process.
According to a press release issued by State Board Secretary Devidas Kulal, students who have demonstrated excellence in sports at the district, divisional, state, or national levels are eligible for grace marks in their board examinations. Until last year, applications for these marks were accepted through an offline process.
For the first time, the state board has introduced an online system for submitting grace mark proposals. However, separate processing fees are being charged by both the state board and the ‘Aaple Sarkar’ portal, drawing criticism from students and stakeholders in the education and sports sectors. Despite the concerns raised, the board has proceeded with the digital system and urged district sports offices to ensure timely submission of proposals within the extended deadline.
The teachers welcomed the board decision. The school teachers said, “It is good that the board decided to extend the deadline. Transitioning from an offline to an online system was bound to have teething issues, and the portal maintenance could have caused genuine inconvenience. However, charging separate processing fees from students is unfair, especially when the system is newly introduced. The board must ensure that these changes do not burden students or discourage them from participating in sports.”
Akshay Kumbhar, a parent, said, "Many students have represented the school at the state level, and we were relieved to see the extension. Several parents were struggling with the new online submission process and had technical issues.
While the move to digitise the system is welcome, the board should consider waiving or at least reducing the processing fees for sports students. These kids work so hard both academically and physically—they should be supported, not penalised. Arati Pawar, another parent said, "The extended deadline is a good step, but the bigger issue is the sudden shift to a paid digital system. We weren't even properly informed about the fee structure or the steps involved. Many parents, especially from rural areas, are finding it difficult to navigate this change. The government should focus on simplifying such systems rather than adding financial and technical hurdles.”
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