Students give thumbs up to optional boards: ‘end of stressful studies’

Japneet Singh,a Class VIII student of the same school,heaved a sigh of relief while saying that the move will put an end to stressful education. “There will be no fear of Boards from now on. We will study without any pressure and will be able to perform better.”

On the other hand,Manjot Kaur,a class X student of the same school,said: “I do not envy my juniors who will have the choice of skipping the Boards in the next academic session. I am happy that we will prepare ourselves much better due to the fear of the Board exams.”

Parents,however,are confused about the recent move. Parwinder Kaur,a parent,said that though the abolition of Class X Board exams will de-stress children,they will feel overburdened in class XII. Another parent,Harpreet Nanre,said: “The traditional system (of conducting Class X Board exams) is better as students study more seriously. What needs to be changed is the psyche of parents,who do not take any interest in the academic development of their wards.”

Meanwhile,objecting to the word “optional,” GGN Public School Principal Karnail Singh said: “The CBSE should make it mandatory for all schools to conduct Board exams on their own. Making it optional will lead to chaos as schools will have to adopt two types of teaching methodologies and prepare students for two types of Class X exams (Board and Non-Board).

He further said that training should be imparted to teachers before implementing the grading system. Moreover,grading should be based on comprehensive evaluation and not on written examinations,he added.