Give question bank to students taking board exams: Parliamentary panel

A parliamentary panel on Tuesday suggested to the Education Ministry that a "big question bank" should be given to students of classes 10 and 12 in advance, out of which selected ones will come in the board exams, in a move aimed at mitigating their learning gap in wake of COVID-19, sources said.

Briefing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education on the impact of COVID-19 on school education, government officials suggested that there could be a substantial "learning gap" in this academic year due to the pandemic and there have been reports that a sizeable number of students missed virtual classes due to Internet connectivity, sources in the panel told PTI.

Members of the panel also raised questions on the viability of online classes for poor families who cannot afford mobile phones or laptops, the sources said.

Panel chairman BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe suggested that the ministry should have promoted, through advertisements and other mediums, classes for various subjects conducted by Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) on different platforms, they said.

Underlining that Doordarshan and AIR are more cost effective then Internet, Sahasrabuddhe said both mediums have wider reach across the country, according to the sources.

The panel also backed Sahasrabuddhe's suggestion for the creation of a "big question bank" of all subjects on the basis of which questions should be asked in exams, especially for 10th and 12th board classes, the sources said, adding this question bank should be given in advance to students before the exams.

The suggestion was made following the observation of government officials that there can be a substantial learning gap between students in the ongoing academic year in wake of the pandemic.

Quoting Sahasrabuddhe, the sources said the question bank should cover the entire syllabus and should have questions which evaluate both analytical and logical abilities of the students.

Members said giving it to students in advance would solve the exam management-related issues and ease anxiety and fear among students.

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has already announced that board exams for class 10th and 12th will be held from May 5 to June 21.

The datesheet for exams is expected to announced this month.