Students of Class 10 and 12 welcome Central Board of Secondary Education’s announcement for board examinations in February instead of March, school principals are of the opinion that the board should have announced it earlier
Students of Class 10 and 12 have welcomed the early start of the board exams from next year announced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The board exams will be held in February, probably from the 15th, in 2018.
The decision has been taken to avoid errors in evaluation of marks after the board received a number of complaints this year, a source said. The early completion of exams will give enough time to the teachers for paper checking and ensure error-free results.
Class 10 student of Udgam School for Children Neerja Joshi said, “The board’s decision is a blessing in disguise. It may be slightly stressful initially but will be beneficial in the long run. I think I will be able to cope up within the given time.“
Though maintaining that the announcement came a bit late, Neerja’s father, Rohit Joshi too believes it would benefit her daughter.
Jagpreeth Kaur Bhatia, a Class 12 student of Cosmos Castle International School, said, “It will definitely be stressful but it won’t last long. Fifteen days here and there won’t disrupt the preparations much. The students will always find themselves short on time for preparations.“
Jagpreeth wants to utilise the time looking for more career options after early completion of exams rather than hurrying up as admission season starts soon after results are announced.
Regarding the exam days being reduced from the usual 45 days to 30 days, she said, “Till now there was preparation time of a week before each ex am. Reducing the days will be fruitful as I will be able to perform better.“
Scaria Thomas, principal of Asia English School, believes that the board’s decision has come in a tad late.“The board should have announced the decision a bit earlier. The schools began their academic session in April and the first quarter of the academic year is about to get over and then comes this announcement. Teachers will have to hurry with their course and students will have to manage the remaining time well to prepare for the board exams,“ said Scaria.
Things would have been better if the decision was implemented from the next academic year, he said. Morever, from this year CBSE has made the board exams compulsory and removed the semester system, so the students will have to prepare the entire syllabus.
In CBSE schools, the syllabus is generally completed by January end, followed by prelims in February. According to Jayshree Joshi, principal of Sattva Vikas School, “Cutting down on exam time is creditable as the long span stressed out the students. Also, conducting exams in March had its own side effects especially for students who appear for competitive exams. If boards conclude in February, students will have sufficient time to prepare for competitive exams, which will ultimately benefit them. Schools will have to re-plan the academic schedule which won’t be a major issue.“
Source – Ahmedabad Mirror – 22nd June 2014
