Blaming the question paper for bad exams

If your Board exam goes well, it?s your hard work, but if it doesn?t then the easiest way out is to blame the question paper.

If your Board exam goes well, it’s your hard work, but if it doesn’t then the easiest way out is to blame the question paper.

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But have you ever wondered how the question paper that decides your fate is set? Those in the know say it’s a long and painstaking process that involves a pool of experts drawn by the CBSE from leading academic institutions across the country.

Academicians with a proven track record are selected to be a part of the question paper committee that works in high secrecy in co-ordination with the CBSE controller of examination. “The academics who set the question paper are not just good teachers drawn from national and state level institutions, but also have a body of research work in the relevant subject to their credit.

Most are also involved in developing course content for students,” said a CBSE official. The experts are supposed to have a minimum of 10 years of teaching experience, and at least a post-graduate degree in the required subject. “Exceptions in this regard are only made for professional courses of a non-academic nature.

No one who has written guide books or gives private tuitions is involved,” the official said. While individual examiners design the question papers, a moderation group ratifies the same for ensuring the same level of difficulty.

Over 1,000 experts are involved in the process of setting question papers for the 200-odd subjects that the CBSE conducts exams in.