Extra time, short papers, relaxed rules ensure record-breaking result
The slew of measures taken by the CBSE to lessen the Class XII board scare seems to have paid off. Apart from the 15-minute cool-off period, set aside for reading the question papers, the length of the paper was also pruned to ensure that it could be tackled in two-and-a-half hours.
The exam duration was kept unchanged at 3 hours. In fact, this year the CBSE went the extra mile to ensure that students don't miss out on exam time if they got delayed due to VIP movement.
“The number of pages in the main answersheet was increased to prevent wastage of time in handling supplementary sheets,” said a CBSE official. “We wanted to ensure that the board exams didn’t become a speed-based method of testing as was felt in the past few years.
"Students would struggle to finish the paper. This year the stress was on testing the understanding through application-based question. The effort is to make the exams more student-friendly,” CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly informed. The reforms seem to have worked wonders.
"Students would struggle to finish the paper. This year the stress was on testing the understanding through application-based question. The effort is to make the exams more student-friendly,” CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly informed. The reforms seem to have worked wonders.
Over 3,500 students have been awarded merit certificates that are meant for the top 1 per cent performers. In a subject like Mathematics, 812 students have scored 100 per cent marks. Most students who had scored cent per cent marks in Maths said they did so because the paper was easy.
In subjects like Business Studies, Computer Sciences and Accountancy 148, 131 and 196 students have scored 99 per cent and above. In subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Biology, 332, 257 and 197 students have scored above 98 per cent marks.