Team Blitz India
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education is planning to explore open book exams for students of classes 9 to 12, following the lead of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
The Central Board has proposed to conduct open book test in NovemberDecember for English, Maths and Science for students of class 9-12 in some schools on pilot basis.
Now the Maharashtra board will take a decision regarding this soon. Open book exams can be useful in preventing malpractices in examinations and help students better understand the concepts and formulas of syllabus.
The CBSE’s plan of open book exams is according to the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE). In an open book exam, students can use notes, books, and guides. Such exams permit students to think about the concepts and create some distance from the learning strategy to pass through the tests.
The essential goal of the CBSE pilot run is to assess the time students take to finish such tests and collect feedback from both teachers and students. The development and design of the pilot test are scheduled to end by June, with the CBSE looking for help from Delhi University for this effort. The state board will administer the SSC exams with a staggering 16 lakh students registered to take the tests this year. According to data provided by the state board, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of students appearing for SSC exams compared to previous years.
This rise is because students who passed class VIII from CBSE board schools have now enrolled in state board schools for class IX under the RTE provisions. The open-book idea proposed by the CBSE board has received mixed response from stakeholders. While some have welcomed it, others have raised concerns with respect to its execution.
