New Delhi, July 12
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has put a stop to the practice of conducting multiple pre-board examinations by schools and has also announced that students will get 15 minutes to study the question paper before getting down to write answers.
These steps were announced by the board as a means of de-stressing education following the HRD Ministry’s directive to do so.
To help reduce anxiety among students, the board has also mooted internal assessment in mathematics, sciences and social sciences for students taking the CBSE examinations next year.
During the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the HRD ministry, Chairman of the Board Ashok Ganguly said question papers would be set in such a way that they could be answered in two and a half hours although the students would have three hours to answer them. The 15 minutes, however, would not be deducted from total exam duration.
The initiatives to introduce internal assessment, Mr Ganguly said, would give adequate thrust on continuous learning in classrooms and assessment of the performance of students on a holistic basis covering wide range of learning skills rather than one examination at the secondary level.
Chairing the meeting, HRD Minister Arjun Singh said there was a need to evolve a “collective common sense” while dealing with a sensitive subject like education which concerns not only students but also the entire nation.
The minister said the issue of making examinations stress-free should not be a one off debate but an ongoing discussion.
The need to make learning a joyful experience so that the examinations at the end of the terms do not become stressful was also reiterated.
It was also pointed out that the CBSE had already initiated steps for finalising the pattern of grades which would be introduced at the earliest. The board has also made it clear that the schools should conduct not more than one pre-board examination.
