Finally, the high-scoring OMR paper in classes 10 and 12 (science) boards conducted by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) has come to an end. The MCQ paper has been eliminated from class 9 and 11 exams as well. The state board on Tuesday issued a circular informing all district education officers about the change in SSC and HSc (science) exam pattern from academic year 2019-2020. Internal exams will carry 20 marks weightage.
Instead of a 50-mark descriptive and 50-mark OMR paper, students will be given an 80 mark question paper with 20% or 16 marks worth objective questions.
The OMR paper had turned into a major headache for the state board with at least 1,500 enmasse copying cases registered in past three years.
Education secretary Anju Sharma said, “The state government has approved a change in exam pattern following introduction of NCERT syllabus in class 9-12 with a view to enhance the quality of education. Apart from exam pattern, teaching methods will also be changed in accordance with the central board’s directives.”
Rubbing out OMR tests will improve quality of education: Principals
The students may not like the scrapping of tests taken using OMR (optical mark reader) sheets, but principals of schools affiliated to the Gujarat board hailed the move to scrap the OMR test system. However, some principals said more descriptive type questions will prolong the evaluation of answer sheets and delay exam results.
Fr Fernand Durai , principal of St Xavier’s Gandhinagar, says, “It is indeed a positive step. With the OMR tests, students were only focussing on mugging up their answers and ignoring the procedure and method involved. Descriptive questions will instil the art of writing in them and will enable them to express themselves. This, no doubt, will bring down the scores, but the students’ understanding will improve.”
Pratiksha Parikh, principal of Tripada School, said, “This will definitely bring a positive change among students as they will make an all-out effort to understand concepts so that they can express themselves clearly in the exams. With OMR tests, children had an easy way out as they will know the answer but not the reasoning behind it.” Rashmi Trivedi, principal of Sant Kabir School, also felt that the passing percentage could decline . “Descriptive tests will help smart students score better , while OMR tests were a blessing for average students, who could score better in less time,” she said. TNN
Source – Times of India, Ahmedabad – 25/7/2018
