CBSE students get Sanskrit paper their friends took 2 weeks before

Updated on: Wednesday, October 12, 2011

September 22—Class X students of R N Podar School, Santa Cruz, took a lengthy Sanskrit paper as part of their Comprehensive and Continuous Evaluation (CCE), an alternative to the board examination.

October 7—Rajhans Vidyalaya students were in for a surprise when they were handed out the exact question paper their friends in Podar were tested on two weeks ago.

Such incidents are likely to repeat among Class X students who have opted outof the board exam and have gone in for the school-based assessment. The CCE was launched a year ago to relieve students of the stress of a year-end exam.

However, the CBSE wanted uniformity in testing and hence sends CCE question papers to schools. Institutes wanting to design their own papers have to get them approved by the board. Hence, most schools go with one of the question papers sent by the CBSE, a principal explained.

The system has, however, probably run into its first gaffe with two schools picking the same question paper sent by the board.

“Many of us were surprised when we received the same question paper that our friends in Podar had got,” said a student from Rajhans Vidyalaya. “In fact, our coaching class had distributed copies of Podar’s question paper to the rest of us to solve for practice.” Rajhans principal Deepshika Srivastava said she picked a question paper from the set of eight others that were sent to her by the CBSE.

CBSE’s regional officer N Nagraju said that a CD of eight to 10 question papers is sent to CBSE schools and the principals pick one. “With over 10,000 CBSE schools, the probability of schools picking up the same paper from a bank of 10 is high,” experts said.

Times View

In an age when information is quickly transferred from one point to the next, the CBSE is risking a duplication of question papers—especially in schools situated near each other—if the board sends out only a small bank of papers for the CCE. The situation is compounded if different schools have exams on different days, as parents will lay great emphasis on getting their hands on papers that students have already sat for before their own child’s upcoming exam. The CBSE’s current system raises doubts about how seriously it views the year-old CCE.

CBSE students get Sanskrit paper their friends took 2 weeks before

More Education news