Indore: Central Board of Secondary Education is expected to finally take the call on Class 12 board examination on June 1 or at least in the first week of June. The decision is challenging and will mostly focus on possibilities of conducting the examination with modification, as cancellation seems almost impossible as per educationists and experts working with the board for over two decades.
Indore Sahodaya complex of CBSE schools chairperson UK Jha shared the overall possibilities discussed by CBSE affiliated schools in Indore regarding alternatives modes of assessment and modified examinations possible by the board. However, nothing is entirely sure and the board can make its changes as per the overall feedback from the country and overseas exam centres.
Following are possibilities shared by Jha:
Only Major Subject exams
An option proposed by CBSE for the Class 12 board exams that is conducting regular exams for only major subjects at notified centres. “An option being considered is examination for only three subjects, much like last year, when some examinations could not be conducted following the outbreak,” Jha said.
Which would be the subjects for each stream?
Science: Physics, Chemistry, Maths or Biology
Commerce: Economics, Business Studies and Accountancy
Humanities: There are too many options and ratings on the importance of subjects. Almost every subject is unique, so the board will find it challenging to limit the exam to three in this stream. However, maybe, History, Geography and Political Science might be considered.
Shorter Examination
Another option is holding shorter-duration exams at the school where a student is enrolled. “The examinations would be conducted for half the time, i.e. 1.5 hours in this option,” Jha said.
Now, this seems reasonable to some and not efficient to others. In either, the biggest challenge is for students.
What’s the trouble for students
To make shorter examinations possible, the board will set a new pattern examination. In this new pattern, most or maybe even the entire examination will be objective type questions.
“To attempt objective type questions, one has to prepare meticulously and pay attention to details,” Jha said. Now, with online classrooms, coronavirus impact on life and psychology, and of course, last-minute pattern changes, such exams would be very challenging.
“Further, there is no scope of scoring at all, if one gets the answer wrong, so the strict compliance would mean bad results as well,” Jha said. This option would be almost like giving a competitive examination, which is too unexpected especially for students of other streams than science.
