Hyderabad: The repeat examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for Class XII economics on Wednesday was easier than the previous paper. The retest was conducted nearly a month after it was leaked, triggering widespread outrage and confusion among students across India.
According to students, Wednesday’s paper was easier than the earlier one and had some direct questions. Though the students were able to finish the paper on time, they were inconvenienced by having to prepare for this alongside the college entrance exams from April 29.
After reports of the leak surfaced on 28 March, the CBSE announced that it would re-conduct the examination on April 25 . About 6 lakh Class XII students of the CBSE syllabus nationwide appeared for the re-examination on Wednesday, which was held at around 4,000 centres across the country.
Sree Kruthi, a CBSE economics student, who appeared for the exam on Wednesday, told Deccan Chronicle, “The paper was easier than last time and we had a lot of direct questions. It was comparatively the same level like the last time; I finished my paper way before and had some extra time left. I think I will score better in this than in the last paper. The toughest part was to leave all the preparations for college entrance exams and to only prepare for the economics test. I have a few entrance tests on April 29, and it was a bit difficult for me to prepare for both the exams.”
17-year-old Sathwik Somarouthu told Deccan Chronicle, “The paper was quite good and was really easier compared to the previous one. We didn’t have a lot of numericals, and almost every question was a direct question from the textbook. I could finish my paper in 2.5 hours itself; almost all the students were able to finish the exam quite early. The only challenge we faced was preparing for our board exams as well as the entrance exams which will begin in a few days.”
D. Ravinder, senior faculty for economics from P. Obul Reddy Public School, Hyderabad, told Deccan Chronicle, “The paper was very easy; it had all the basic questions and the paper was so easy, even an average student could score good marks. The paper asked very basic questions and the numerical part in economics is usually challenging, but today’s paper had all direct numericals without any challenges.”
He adds, “The students were very joyful because they were worried that the paper would be difficult after the paper-leakage controversy, but it was quite easy.”
