Punjabi question paper with 16 spelling errors leaves students baffled
The school authorities demanded that proof reading should be conducted to avoid such errors.
Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Punjabi question paper for Class 8 students had left students baffled with as many as 16 spelling mistakes.
Many students raised the problem with invigilators on examination duty on Tuesday but were asked to attempt the paper as even many schools wrote to the board regarding the errors in the question paper. The school authorities demanded that proof reading should be conducted to avoid such errors.
In the comprehension part A of the paper, there were six spelling errors in nine lines and majority of the mistakes were of syllable. In another paragraph, there were five spelling errors and the names of Amritsar and Guru Arjan Dev were incorrectly spelled.
This is the first time Class 8 students have appeared in the board exam since 2014. Earlier, the schools had been holding the evaluation process for them and students were awarded grades between ‘A’ (more than 80%) and ‘E’ (less than 33%).
A Class 8 student, Asha Kumari, said, “I get confused while attempting the question paper and asked the invigilator to clarify as there were too many mistakes in the paper. There was so much confusion. I wasted my precious time in inquiring so that I can answer questions correctly.”
On March 3, the Punjab assembly had passed a resolution making Punjabi compulsory first language in all schools from Class 1 to Class 10.
A retired government school principal, Anoop Kumar Passi, said, “There is a need to fix accountability of the teachers preparing the question paper as these errors confuse students. The board must take action against the expert who has set the paper to avoid such errors in future.”
When contacted, PSEB examination controller Raj Mehrok said, “We have constituted a committee to look into the reason[s] behind errors in the question paper. We will take action against paper setter once the committee submits its report.”
One impersonation case reported from Mohali
One case of impersonation was reported from Sri Muktsar Sahib during the Punjabi exam of Class 12 conducted by PSEB that commenced on Tuesday. As per the spokesperson of the education board, one teenager was found giving exam in place of the student in government senior secondary school, Ghumiara, Sri Muktsar sahib. The teenager who was sitting for the examination, however, managed to flee the school during checking. The board has filed a police complaint against unidentified person in this regard. No cheating case was reported Class 5 board examination, though certain grammatical mistakes were reported in the paper.