Confusion over CBSE Class 10 & 12 date sheets is unfair burden on anxious students
This the time of the year when lakhs of students across the country start gearing up for what they then imagine to be the most difficult exam of their lives.
This is the time of the year when lakhs of students across the country start gearing up for what they now imagine to be the most difficult exam of their lives. Parents’ expectations and peer pressure, coupled with the insane competition to get into colleges seen as launch pads for a brighter future, make the Class 10 and Class 12 board exams veritable pressure cookers for students.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), with its change of exam formats and debates over marks “normalistaion”, does not really help frayed nerves.
#Cbse acts like it has to release top CIA information that they don't release the date sheet for Boards 2018.Why?They don't even have a Twitter account.
— Raksha Tripathy (@The_HotWriter) January 5, 2018
#CBSEDateSheet #CBSE CBSE to release datesheet 'SOON'!It's high time now! What does this 'SOON' stands for?You people have made it a plaything!@CBSEWorld @IndiaToday @ndtv @HRDMinistry @PrakashJavdekar
— Muskaan khanna (@muskaankhanna) January 9, 2018
Where is the Datesheet Cbse? Are we Giving Exams this year na? #Cbse #Cbsedatesheet
— Mannat Deep Singh (@mannat_deep) January 8, 2018
#cbse......please aap log exam conduct karwane k baad hi hame date sheet dena???????? #2018DATESHEET
— Shiv tiwari (@yashtiwari907) January 9, 2018
@CBSEWorld @iCBSE #CBSEDateSheet Typical #CBSE! pic.twitter.com/iv0LkEshS5
— Yogesh Gattani (@GattaniYogesh) January 10, 2018
This time around, uncertainty has begun over the exam schedule itself. The announcement of dates for the Class 10 and Class 12 CBSE exams has been delayed, and various rumours about the datesheet are doing the rounds. Anxious parents and students, easy prey to such fake news, have reportedly been asked for money to be able to access the date sheet.
The CBSE date sheet is usually released around this time, and reports this year had suggested that it would be out on January 5. Exams usually begin in March - less than two months away - and practicals are conducted before that. Students are naturally anxious to know the exact schedules for the exam, so they can prepare accordingly.
Also, entrance exams for colleges, including the IIT-JEE, are held soon after the board exams are over, and aspirants need the window to brush up the entrance tests’ syllabi.
Why the delay
The exam schedule has not been released so far because the CBSE is reportedly waiting for election dates for state legislative assemblies to be announced. Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Karnataka are to go to polls this year, and that will mean government teachers and other resources being diverted for election duty.
Last year too, the CBSE examinations had to be delayed by nine days due to elections in Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Uttarakhand, and the board is not wrong in waiting for the poll dates to be declared before it decides on its own schedule.
However, it would have done well to announce a date on which it release the exam date sheet, to prevent rumours and spare parents and students undue anxiety.
This year is especially crucial for Class 10 students, as from 2018 onwards, the board has abolished the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) grading system, which it had followed for seven years, and restored the annual examination system. In such a scenario, delay and confusion over the schedule will only stress the worried students further.
Also, last year, there had been a very small gap between the Class 12 exams and the JEE Main. This time, dates for JEE have already been declared, and the board exam date sheet will help aspirants plan their preparation strategy better.
Not the only uncertainty
Last year, the CBSE had decided to scrap its marks moderation policy after the exams had already been conducted. “Moderation” is the process through which the board gives extra marks to students for subjects that had had a tricky question paper, and to adjust for the difficulty levels in different sets of question papers.
This had led to an outcry, and the Delhi High Court had asked the board to continue with the policy for one more year, saying “A person taking the examination needs to be put on notice (about the decision to scrap the policy). Do it next year,” the bench said, adding that the board “cannot change the rules after the game has begun”.
The moderation policy has been criticised as artificial inflation of scores, which not only prevents students from finding out their actual performance, but also leads to the crazy cut-off competition witnessed every year, where some courses in the Delhi University see their cut-offs touch 100 per cent. Last year, up to 11 extra marks were given awarded in certain subjects.
In October 2017, school education secretary Anil Swarup wrote to the heads of all state education boards, advising them to completely avoid “bunching of marks” and “their spiking”, and 178 states “responded positively” to the suggestion.
However, so far, a national policy on marks moderation has not been announced.
After months of confusion and court intervention last year, the government had one whole year to decide on the matter. Why exactly was this not done is not clear.
Students appearing for their board exams are already under intense, unfair pressure. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2015, every hour one student commits suicide in India. They should not be subjected to more uncertainties about exam formats, methods of result declaration, examination schedules, etc.
The fact that board exams are such a trial by fire for children is anyway an indictment of our education system, parents, government policies, and society as a whole. Adding to that anxieties over how and when the exam is held is not just irresponsible, but cruel.