Error in question gives taxing time to students

Normally, confident and chirpy, Shubham Lamba, a Class 12 student from Ahlcon Public School in Mayur Vihar, was not his usual self when he came out of the examination centre on Saturday. Reason: an error in the Engineering Graphics paper, which disappointed most Board examinees. Hema Rawat reports.

Normally, confident and chirpy, Shubham Lamba, a Class 12 student from Ahlcon Public School in Mayur Vihar, was not his usual self when he came out of the examination centre on Saturday. Reason: an error in the Engineering Graphics paper, which disappointed most Board examinees.

HT Image

"In question no. 3, there was a mismatch in the diagram and dimensions. I could not understand it initially. Though an alternative was given, I attempted what appeared easier. Most students attempted this question without knowing that there was an error in it. As a result, most of us were puzzled and could not make a diagram with the given dimensions. We ended up wasting a lot of time," said Shubham.

There was just a single set of the question paper and question no. 3 carried 28 marks. Students said the alternative to this question was difficult and lengthy.

Subject experts said even though they have made representations to the CBSE, there has been no concrete result so far. "The paper was a glaring example of errors. One of the instructions said the missing and mismatched dimensions might be suitably assumed. This confused students. As a result, they wasted a lot of time. In multiple-choice questions, the language used was different from that of textbook," said Arvind Chauhan, a teacher at Modern School, Vasant Vihar.

Experts and teachers will meet E Daniel Raju, additional education officer, CBSE, on Monday to discuss the matter.