Now, 10 and 12 board examinees to get extra 10 mins to write papers

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has decided to give extra 10 minutes to the students of classes 10 and 12 to write their board examination

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has decided to give extra 10 minutes to the students of classes 10 and 12 to write their board examination.

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The decision was made in response to critical feedback from parents and students after the state board had cancelled the 10 minutes allotted time to the students to understand the question paper before the exam. The cancellation was made to prevent malpractices during the examination under the copy-free campaign.

The cancellation of the ‘extra time’ caused an uproar, leading to the government’s intervention, which instructed the state board to extend the time by ten minutes after the scheduled time of examination.

According to the new decision, students will receive question papers at 11 am (rather than 10.50 am) for the morning session and at 3 pm (instead of 2.50pm) for the afternoon session, with the morning session ending at 2.10 pm (rather than 2 pm) and the afternoon session ending at 6.10pm (rather than 6pm). The state board had previously cancelled last year’s concessions due to the exams being conducted as per the pre-corona period. Students, parents, and education experts criticised the earlier decision of reducing the extra 10 minutes. Some parents also had a meeting with MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday to get relief from this decision.

In 2017, the education board started giving question papers 10 minutes before the examination. Sharad Gosavi, chairman of MSBSHSE said, “An additional ten minutes would be added after the scheduled time of the examination. The state board has been working hard to ensure a fair and transparent examination process and the decision to extend the time shows their commitment to providing a level playing field for all students.”

To ensure the integrity of the examination process, the state board has put in place measures such as a full-time sitting team and search of students at the examination centre. However, the government’s decision to provide additional time will give some respite to students who may need extra time to understand the question paper or complete their exams.