CBSE Board Exam 2021: New Paper Pattern Needs More Time, say Educators

Principals of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools in Pune have come forward and expressed that the new CBSE exam pattern is more time-consuming. CBSE had previously decided to change the exam pattern of class 10 and 12 from 2021.

Most of the educators in schools are in mutual agreement that multiple-choice questions may confuse the students. MCQs test the students at a conceptual level. However, the students have not yet gotten used to the new system introduced by the CBSE, which may be disconcerting.

In addition, most schools are still transitioning from the rote learning system to conceptualized learning. Since the transition is not yet complete, most students may find the addition of MCQs to be a problem.

The conceptual nature of the questions also means that more time would be required to solve it. This will lead to more time consumption which is not in favor of the students. While most of the principals and teachers were in consensus, a few educators disagreed and said that the overall difficulty level has reduced.

Principal of City International School, Kothrud, Padmaja Chavali believes that the one marked questions are easy. However, their solving process is lengthy, which would mean that students will spend less time on other questions of higher marks.

Chavali also said that they will try their best to train the students in the new system. To this end, they have conducted their half-yearly and quarterly exams by following the new pattern. But due to a lack of physical classes, teachers find it difficult to gauge how much a student has actually understood.

She also said that once students start coming to schools, it would be easier to train them in the new pattern. It would also become easier for schools to conduct the exam.

Another principal, C Madhavi believes that the MCQs would increase the difficulty level of the exam. According to her, students need a good amount of practice to be familiar with the exam pattern. In the current situation, that may be difficult for most students.