CBSE Board Exams 2022: Students, teachers confused with different exam pattern for each term

However, Awani Singh, Headmistress at Pacific World School, Greater Noida, believes that ​​the multiple-choice question format will allow for a warm-up of the students before they appear for the competitive exams. “The MCQ pattern is comprehensive and it allows for an assessment of a student’s concept clarity. This format prepares the students for what lies ahead of them, in the form of competitive exams,” she said

However, most educators agreed that the format for one complete academic year should remain the same. “Introducing both formats and bifurcating them in the very same session has been difficult for not just the students, but teachers too. We have had to completely transform our teaching methodology to adapt to the new format. But the process has also taught us a lot,” said Amandeep Kaur, TGT, English at Pacific World School.

Students are now preparing for the second-term exams but many are not very inclined towards this transition. Riddhima Magon from the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ School, said, “Throughout our school life, I have been taught to write long answers. With this sudden announcement by the board and a shift to an objective-type paper and then going back to subjective, is making this entire process a mere game of catch.”

Abhay Hari, a class 12 student from the Jingle bells School, Bareilly, said “The MCQ format seemed easier while I was preparing but after taking the exam, I do not like it. A subject like business studies, where the examiner and examinee could have a different but correct strategy to approach a business problem, assessment through MCQs reduces my ability to apply creativity and understanding, but that will be retained in the second-term exams”. Talking about the transition to the second term, Abhay added, “I do not think it is wise to introduce both the formats in a single year, one being new, it has intensified our stress, rather than reducing it”.

While, Yash Goel, a Science student from Delhi Public School, Indirapuram, said “I like the MCQ format since I have been preparing for the JEE that has prepared me better for the format and moreover, it is a good exercise before I appear for my competitive exam”.

Anushka Khanna, a class 10 student from St. Francis school, Bareilly said “I found the MCQ pattern difficult while preparing and was scared, but after I gave the first exam I got confident. But I will lose marks that I would otherwise get for each step of calculation in the objective format. In subjective exams, we will have a better chance of scoring good marks as compared to the term 1 format. I think including both formats in the same will help us learn to deal with both forms of assessment and it is a good idea.”

Considering the demand that students are making on Twitter with the #cancelboardexams2022 trending, Anushka said “I do not want the exams to be cancelled because we have been working very hard and if not offline, the exams should be conducted online, but they should be conducted”.

Another class 12 student, Prisha Khandelwal from Bal Bharti Public School, Pitampura said, “The MCQ format reduced the burden of rote learning but after preparing for an MCQ-based exam, we are no longer in the habit of framing and writing long answers. I support the #cancelboardexams2022 campaign on Twitter because we have been given a very short time to prepare for a rather difficult set of chapters, for instance in Mathematics and economics. The board should cancel these exams or at least postpone it.”

(The author is an intern with The Indian Express and first-year student of BA Journalism and Media Studies at OP Jindal Global University)