CBSE Suggests Fewer MCQs for Uniform Exam Pattern

The panel has suggested that all papers should be of 100 marks, across the board.

NEW DELHI: A government-appointed panel, set up to examine the feasibility of having a uniform pattern of questions for Class 12 board exams, is understood to have suggested that objective type questions should not carry more than a third of the total marks and multiple choice questions should be limited in number.

The panel was set up by the CBSE last year to discuss ways of checking unusually high scores awarded to students of some boards.

One of the panel members said that there was a broad consensus against awarding step marks for subjective type questions as is practised by several boards — these  questions in effect are treated as objective type questions.  The broader format of questions suggested by the board is understood to be in the ratio of one essay type question to two short answer type questions to four objective type questions.

The panel has suggested that all papers should be of 100 marks, across the board. Some boards such as Tamil Nadu have 200 marks papers for some subjects.

Speaking of multiple choice questions, the feeling was that this format had led to high percentages and that there should be a limit to their number. 

Significantly, the panel favoured that a mechanism be developed where the marks are distributed equally among subjective type questions, short answer type and objective type questions in papers such as Science and Mathematics across all the boards in the country.

The suggestions are expected to be examined by the Ministry before implementation.

HRD ministry working on aptitude test for students

The HRD Ministry is developing an aptitude test which will help school students assess their areas of interest so that they can choose and pursue the right courses. The Ministry has formed a task force comprising officials of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and psychometric experts for developing a “prototype” of this proposed assessment test, official sources said.

At present, the team of experts is working on creating the items and content for a test for Class IX, they said. “Experts from CBSE, NCERT and other bodies are working under the larger umbrella of the HRD Ministry to create a prototype of the psychometric test for Class IX exam. Initially, this voluntary test may be carried out in a few areas and based on the feedback may be expanded. PTI