Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Parents, children and schools are in troubled waters as Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) set one of the toughest papers for Class 12 board examination this year, while sample papers and instructions as per New Education Policy (NEP) were contradictory.
Things will head further south for IITs and other top technical institutes in the country this year, as many students who qualify might get stuck in Class 12 percentage criterion if they have attempted CBSE board examination this year. The criterion re-stated from this year requires a minimum of 75% overall marks in Class 12 from a recognised board for eligibility for JEE Mains 2023.
Students are urging CBSE to be lenient and taking to twitter with hash tags #CbsePlsLenientChecking and #CBSEBoardExam2023 # that are trending since the examinations. A student Ayushman Barik said, “My life, my love, my expectations, my future, my everything is up to you CBSE. Please please award me with passing marks, dear.”
Shreya Malviya urged CBSE to pass all students mentioning that they are ‘the last Covid 19 batch’.
Unexpected, unwarranted difficult exams
School principals were taken aback by the examinations. Students were taught based on the syllabus and sample papers. “However, no matter how good a student is... the papers were so difficult that most students are scared of even passing the examination now,” UK Jha, former chairperson of Indore Sahodaya Complex of CBSE schools, said.
He added that students who had scored 100 marks in Maths, Physics and other such subjects and had the capacity of scoring cent per cent in the Board exams too are now panicking about getting minimum scores now. “We cannot blame the students entirely this time, as the papers were too tough and even toppers are scared,” Jha said.
Principals are hoping that CBSE will be lenient in checking now. “CBSE has to be lenient and they will be most likely, it’s just a matter of evaluating student’s knowledge and understanding level,” Kanchan Tare, chairperson of Sahodaya, said.
“We must note that this batch has truly suffered Covid-19 effects and they did lose the seriousness, which is usual in senior secondary school due to online classes and so many breaks,” Manoj Bajpai, school principal, said.
JEE aspirants might prefer State boards if CBSE trend continues
“Students have worked hard for clearing JEE Main and JEE Advanced, but many students are now panicking because they might fail in CBSE exams,” Kamal Sharma, JEE mentor, said. He added that this would de-motivate students from opting for CBSE examination.
“It is already a lot of pressure for students to prepare for competitive examination and CBSE making examinations tougher puts students in hot water,” Sharma said.
Another JEE mentor Harpreet Singh said, “I teach CBSE as well as JEE examination-oriented learning, but this time, even the smartest students have their heads barely above water.” He added that many students in Class 11 are now considering switching to state board instead of CBSE for board examinations.
