CBSE assures to look into confusion in Class 10 English paper

According to teachers, in the first section—reading—students were expected to find synonyms of endurance, obstruction and motivation in paragraphs two,four and five, respectively. But the answers were in paras three and six.

Apart from some confusion over a question in the reading section, the Central Board of Secondary Education’s class 10 English paper turned out to be ‘easy’.

The CBSE Class 10 and 12 board exams began on March 5. Mahua Mallick, a class 10 English teacher at Ahlcon International School, said a few of her students were unable to locate these words while others who did not rely on the paragraph cues found them.(Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

According to teachers, in the first section—reading—students were expected to find synonyms of endurance, obstruction and motivation in paragraphs two,four and five, respectively, after reading a given passage about success. However, the correct answers, as per the teachers, were stamina, obstacle, and inspiration, respectively, which were found in paragraphs three and six respectively.

The board said they will take note of the matter.

Mahua Mallick, a class 10 English teacher at Ahlcon International School, said a few of her students were unable to locate these words while others who did not rely on the paragraph cues found them.

“So there are three marks hanging in the balance. Even in the last question, in the literature section, students were to attempt one question out of the four for 10 marks. But some students were confused whether they were to attempt one question or two because of the way it was presented,” she said.

The CBSE spokesperson said the matter had been brought to their notice. “It will be ensured no student in put to any disadvantage. The board will take care before the finalisation of the marking scheme prepared for the evaluation of this paper,” the official said.

However, others such as Ameeta Wattal the principal of Springdales School on Pusa Road said it was not a big issue and students would have been able to find the correct answer if they read through the passage carefully.

Otherwise, the paper was said to be “well-balanced”.

“In the literature section, students would have been able to answer if they had read the texts closely, and if not they still had a choice. Rest of the paper was quite straightforward and direct,” said Nita Jain, English teacher at Delhi Public School Mathura Road said, a claim that many students seemed to agree with.

“There was enough time to complete the paper. The reading section was a bit tricky but the writing and literature sections were not tough,” said Rishabh Bobhal of Evergreen Senior Secondary School, Vasundhara Enclave.