Hyderabad: SSC Board exams will be less stressful for students with the state government reducing the number of papers by almost half, from March 2015.
There are six subjects in SSC exams. Students have been appearing for two papers in each of the five subjects, except Hindi, for which there is a single paper. Students are thus appearing for a total of 11 papers.
From March 2015, there will be just one paper in each of the five subjects, except General Science, for which there will be two papers.
This will reduce the total number of papers to seven from the existing 11. Students appearing for SSC exams in March 2014 will be the last batch of students appearing for 11 papers.
The expert committee appointed by the state government to suggest reforms in SSC public exams has recommended this reform. It observed that SSC students were experiencing unnecessary mental stress on account of two papers in each subject. Besides, this was also leading to stretching of the SSC exam schedule by two weeks.
Rote learning to be discouraged
Hyderabad: In the new SSC format, exams can be concluded in just seven days. Senior teachers said introducing a single paper for each subject does not mean that all the questions of the two papers will be given in a single paper.
“The new initiative is aimed at de-stressing students. If two papers in each subject are merged into a single paper, it would lead to more stress as students will have to answer more questions. At present, each paper carries 50 marks with a total of 100 marks for two papers in each subject. In the new format, there will be only one paper of 50 marks. The remaining 50 marks will be awarded based on Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation, like giving project work, internal assessment, testing communication skills etc. to ensure the overall development of the child," said K. Venugopal, a senior teacher and academic consultant to the AP Teachers’ Federation.
“The present question papers are devised to elicit straight answers from textbooks. Students by-heart the answers and write them. For this reason, the question paper pattern is being changed to discourage rote learning," said P. Narayana, a Class X teacher.
