HYDERABAD: Tenth Standard students from the city are a relieved lot as they said the new pattern of examination was easier than they expected. The First Language Paper-I SSC Public Examination was conducted on Wednesday and 975 students were absent.
The students gave thumbs down to long-established method of rote learning, and said the new pattern of the examination required them to think while answering questions.
“I expected the new examination pattern to be tough but found it easier. Rote learning only helps us score enough marks to pass the exam but not get good grade,” said Pradyumna B, a candidate. The 15 minutes’ extra time given to understand the question paper was of immense help, he said.
Another student, Prakash Vaishnav, said that rote learning might have suited the earlier patterns of examination. “Now, we have to think about the questions asked before answering,” he said.
Coaching centres also said that the exam pattern was not taxing on students. “It was not stressful. It only made students to learn the subject and write their opinion,” said Rasiya Sultana, a tutor at Wisdom Study Circle.
A coaching centre alleged that a private school handed the question papers half an hour late and collected the answer sheets back 15 minutes early, allegedly on instructions.
However, district education officer Somi Reddy said no such case had come to his notice. Claiming that candidates were not deprived of even a minute, he said action would be taken against such schools.
While 71,567 students were supposed to take the examination in the city, 975 were recorded as absent. On the first day of the examination, flying squads caught seven students for indulging in malpractices _ three each in Mahbubnagar and Adilabad districts, and one in Nizamabad. A total number of 821 flying squads were deployed in the state, 115 of them in Hyderabad. Besides, two invigilators in the city were relieved of their duties. “They had to be relieved as they did not have experience in conducting examinations,” the DEO explained.