Around 900 schools, which have been consecutively giving a pass percentage of less than 30 per cent for the last three years, have been identified by the board across the state.

Taking note of the schools with poor performance, the Vadodara District Education Office, had passed a notice earlier this month, saying that it will take stringent action of penalty or even closure, if the schools do not take any measures to boost the pass percentage in the Board exams this year.

However, the board decided to give the schools one last chance, after conducting a two-day review meeting with 38 school authorities. The meeting concluded on Tuesday.

In the annual survey of performance by various schools, the Vadodara District Education Office had identified 80 schools, which gave low performances in the Board exams. Out of this, 38 schools were classified as those having a pass percentage of less than 30 per cent for the last three years.

"We had asked the schools to conduct night classes for weak students. All the 38 schools have submitted their performance report to us. After discussing it with the GSHSEB, we have decided to see their performance in this year's Board exams," said R K Patel, District Education Officer (DEO), Vadodara.

Apart from Vadodara, Ahmedabad had identified 63 schools, while Surat had picked out 30 schools, which have consistently given a below 30 per cent pass result in the last three years.

"This is a huge number. Remedial courses, not closure, is the solution to this problem. We have floated the idea of stronger schools adopting 10 weaker schools each to conduct weekly sessions. We have to wait for this year's result to see if the programme can be worked out effectively," said Rohit Pathak, chairman, GSHSEB.

Incidentally, the school adoption project was started years ago, but was never completed.