Lengthy query papers go away CBSE Class XII college students harried, faculties search lenient valuation

Express News Service

KOCHI: The ongoing CBSE Term I class X and XII examinations have left college students and fogeys wringing their palms in fear. The state of affairs is such that academics and fogeys have reported college students feeling depressed and anxious about their efficiency. Taking into cognizance the issue confronted by the scholars of Class XII concerning the English and Mathematics papers, the National Council of CBSE Schools (NCCS) on Tuesday approached the board elevating the issues expressed by faculties and college students.

According to Indira Rajan, secretary-general, the English and Mathematics query papers had been a bit too troublesome and prolonged particularly part B and the final two questions of part C.

“Certain questions were out of syllabus. Questions came from the deleted portions in Mathematics. In a question, the factorial notation given is not familiar to the students. This notation has never been used in the NCERT textbook. The majority of the questions are not from the textbook so the pattern is not familiar to the children. So it is difficult for the average and below-average children,” she mentioned.

She mentioned the Class XII English paper had ambiguous questions particularly within the writing part. “There were the same and similar questions with completely different sets of options leading to ambiguity,” she added. In numerous states, the CBSE faculties are struggling to outlive. “Though we deliver a very good quality teaching-learning process, retaining the students in grades 11 and 12 has always been a challenge as parents feel their children will not get desirable marks to even qualify for higher education,” she mentioned.

She mentioned these query papers will add to the fear of oldsters and make them choose state boards sooner or later. “Prospective students who wish to prepare for competitive examinations also will lose interest in the subject due to the inability to perform the subject well. A slight consideration of the learning gaps of students in view of the academic break due to the COVID pandemic should have been considered,” she added within the letter despatched to the board.

According to Siji Varghese, a social science trainer of a CBSE college, one other drawback is the dearth of sufficient preparation time for college students within the new mode of examination that resembles entrance assessments. “The idea was good. However, the students in the state couldn’t get enough practice in writing the Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) examination. Schools in our state resumed offline mode just recently while those in northern states got more time since they opened comparatively much earlier,” he mentioned.

“Now, when the exams are coming to an end, the CBSE has come up with another set of instructions,” mentioned Siji. “For the exams to be conducted after Tuesday, the candidates have to mark the options in capital letters on the OMR sheets. The change will only add to the confusion of students,” he mentioned.

Meanwhile, N Okay Premchandran, MP, additionally raised the difficulty in Parliament. He mentioned the prolonged Class XII query papers have develop into a reason behind fear for the scholars who’re standing on the threshold of their future careers. “The students are depressed and this has affected their performance in the subsequent examinations,” mentioned the MP, who requested the federal government to direct the board to hold out a lenient valuation of the reply papers.