The New Examination Pattern: Blessing or Curse?

Recently, the ICSE/ISC and CBSE changed the examination patterns for the board exams of Grades X and XII. This change was made in light of the drastic changes that were faced within the schooling system as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The changes were met with mixed reactions from the students.

Firstly, one must understand the state of mind that the students of the 2021-22 batch have been in. Whether you studied in CBSE or ICSE, the importance put on the tenth board examinations is a constant. Right from the lower grades, students are trained to learn the material and write the examinations in a way that will prepare them best for the board exam. The paper formats are always the same as the board paper formats and for years and years, students are taught how questions will be asked in the boards and how they will have to answer. Even though the boards are written only in the tenth grade, the training begins right from middle school.

Because of the importance teachers and parents place on these exams, it is only natural that students get very stressed and stretch themselves thin trying to do well in them. Our batch was no different. We spent at least two years conditioning ourselves to write papers in a manner that will get us the maximum marks in our boards and we put in tonnes of hard work. However, due to the pandemic, our board exams were stopped halfway and we were given zero clarity on whether they would be completely cancelled or postponed to a later date; we were left hanging. This was an extremely frustrating time for our batch. For months we had been studying almost non-stop and suddenly we were told that it may just have been for nothing. The period of uncertainty took a toll on everyone’s mental health. By the time we got the news that we would not have to write the remainder of our exams, we were already a month or so into the 11th Grade.

Just as our batch got out of the cloud of doubt and unpredictability, we had to start learning to adjust to online schooling. It was difficult for both teachers and students at first, but slowly we adjusted. Again, the pattern of training students for the board exam, this time the 12th Board, began. Even though exams were online, paper patterns and teaching methods focused only on how we would write our boards. As 12th Grade began, the stress of boards began to settle in in a very real way. The first half of the 12th grade, including two Unit Tests, were spent revising what we were told since the beginning of the 11th grade- the format of the board paper, how marks would be allocated and how we would have to frame and write our answers. Students spent months taking notes for long answers, especially in theory subjects such as History, Political Science, Psychology, English Literature, Economics, etc. because the exams for these exams demanded page-long answers.

However, in August, the Boards announced a change in the exam pattern. Half the syllabus would be tested in the form of a Multiple Choice Question paper and the pattern for the other half is yet to be finalised. The thinking behind this move was that Multiple Choice papers are easier to conduct online, which is what the board intends to do. Another reason could also be to reduce the stress on students who’ve spent two years studying online for extremely important exams. On the face of it, this change may seem like an absolute win for the students. In theory, MCQs seem much easier than theory papers. However, the problem arises when we look at the studying process for both these kinds of papers. When studying for theory papers, students need only remember keywords and elaborate on the subjects using their own thinking. We are told to ignore obscure and irrelevant isolated details in our chapters as they simply don’t add any value to the question asked. Based on the marks allotted to the question, we must only write a certain number of points, all of which are absolutely essential to answering the question. This, however, is not the case with MCQs. since objective questions can be picked up from anywhere in the chapters, students now need to read between the lines. This would be fine if it was something we were used to, but for years and years, we were trained to write subjective answers. Now, within the span of a month or two, we need to train ourselves to study everything that we were previously asked to ignore. As if that isn’t difficult and stressful enough on its own, this sudden change comes right before the most important examination we will write as school students. Our 12th Grade boards’ results determine to a great extent, which colleges we get into. Later on in life, many jobs also take into consideration our 12th Grade marks.

The 12th Board exam is stressful enough on its own. But with the sudden change in the pattern, students find themselves feeling unprepared and without a plan. While it is understood that this change was made keeping in mind the students’ best interests, its impact isn’t quite what it was intended to be. Changes like these should be implemented at least 3-4 months in advance, which is time that the Board definitely had. Giving students a month to unlearn everything they had been training for the past two years is highly unreasonable and stress-inducing.

Because of the division of the Board examinations into two separate sections, the school exam schedule has also been affected. Since we need 2 preparatory exams for the two divisions of the board paper, in addition to the exams the school normally conducts, we may now have exams in three consecutive months. This is an absurd amount of pressure to put the students under; an unnecessary addition to the tension that they are already under.

It is safe to say that the 2021-22 batch has had a less-than-ideal couple of years. With the opening of schools still being uncertain and the new changes that they must adjust to, students are feeling overwhelmed. With little reassurance coming from the board, one can only hope for the best.