Delhi: CBSE Term 1 exams begin

In view of the Covid pandemic, CBSE had earlier announced two-term board exam this year, with the Term 1 featuring a 90-minute test in the multiple choice questions (MCQ) format

New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) Term 1 board exams for students of Class 12 started on Tuesday, with school authorities saying that the examinations -- in Beauty and Wellness, and Entrepreneurship subjects -- went on smoothly in Delhi.

New Delhi, India - Nov. 15, 2021: Students pictured outside a school after authorities on November 13 announced a one-week closure of schools and said they would consider a "pollution lockdown" to protect citizens from the toxic smog, in New Delhi, India, on Monday, November 15, 2021. (Photo by Amal KS / Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

In view of the pandemic, CBSE had earlier announced two-term board exam this year, with the Term 1 featuring a 90-minute test in the multiple choice questions (MCQ) format.

Sudha Acharya, the chairperson of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference, which has over 120 private Delhi schools as its members, said there weren’t many glitches in the process, other than minor delay in uploading the answer keys after revaluation.

Acharya said that the school had trained students well with the help of mock OMR sheets before the exam. “The paper came on time. Students were also familiar since the board had shared an explainer video earlier. We also gave them practice tests on mock OMR sheets. Since the paper was minor and only around 10 students appeared in our school, everything took place smoothly,” said Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka.

Laksh Vir Sehgal, principal of Bal Bharati Public School on Ganga Ram Hospital Marg, said the exam went smoothly. “It was the first paper under a new system, so there were a few hiccups initially but everything was solved well within the time since we had the mock test yesterday. Today, we had a minor paper so the number of students taking the test was also less,” said Sehgal.

Noting that printing question papers on campus for minor papers is not hard, he, however, added that it could be a challenge for some other minor subjects where the number of students is high. “Printing of papers can be especially challenging and schools will need to arrange for high-speed printers,” said Sehgal, who is also the city coordinator for the exam.

The Vice- and Principals’ Association of Delhi on Tuesday also wrote to the CBSE chairperson and sought a supply of printed question papers for the Class 10 Sanskrit exam, scheduled on November 22, noting that the number of students appearing for the test is high.

Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj, controller of examinations, CBSE, said that the board will provide printed question paper for the Sanskrit exam for both classes 10 and 12. “Since the matter is confidential, it’s possible that the schools are not aware of the same. However, we are already providing printed papers for the Sanskrit exam,” said Bhardwaj.