Govt Overrules Board, Accepts Parents’ Demand
The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) has finally decided that the final examinations of class XI and Class XII science stream will have 50% question of the objective type with a weightage of one mark each and the students will have to answer these questions on Optical Mark Reader (OMR) sheets.
The remaining 50% will be of descriptive type in which students will have to write the answers with details.
Sources in the board said that the state government on Friday issued the notification announcing that multiple choice questions will comprise 50% of the total number of question and the rest 50% would be descriptive questions.
The new format will be applicable from 2017 for class XI examination and from 2018 for class XII. It may be recalled that the government this year had decided to do away with the semester system from class XI and XII science stream. However, later the government decided to continue the semester system for class XII students for the academic year 2016-17.
This is contrary to the recommendations of GSHSEB panel that had recommended that papers in class XI and XII science examinations should have 75% descriptive questions and 25% objective ones. This was in line with the exam patterns of other boards. However, the Gujarat government decided to overrule the recommendations of the board and give 50% weightage to objective and 50% weightage to descriptive questions.
Board chairman RR Thakkar said the government has not considered the proposal of the Board. “We had recommended examinations on the lines of CBSE but the government chose to give 50-50% weightage,“ he said.
It is worth recalling that, last month, Gujarat Parents Association (GPA) had made a representation to the state education minister seeking a change in the format of board exams for students of science stream of class 12 state board. However, the GSHSEB had said that changing the format of class XII exams is difficult and is not possible completely.
Parents made a representation that the students will not get enough time to prepare for competitive exams and hence they wanted the final board examination to be 75% objective and only 25% descriptive. Parents claimed that exams such as NEET, JEE and GujCET are conducted soon after the state board exams are over, leaving little or no time for students to prepare.
Sources in GSHSEB said, “It was not advisable to have equal or more weightage for the objective question. Even the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam pattern involves 70% descriptive questions and 30% objective.“
TIMES VIEW
The flip-flop by the education department on crucial issues like JEE exams, semester system and now the OMR exposes its myopic policies. That parents must take to streets and sit on dharnas to draw the attention of the government towards its flawed decisions is pitiable. If the education department continues displaying this lackadaisical approach it will harm the careers of lakhs of children. It is high time that the government should standardize the examination system in the state.
Source – Times of India – 19th November 2016
