The CBSE Maths Exam Disaster

The class 12 students appearing for CBSE boards this year have been in an uproar since the maths board exam. This exam held on 18^th march, 2015 came as a shock to the students across the nation. This exam comprised mainly of HOT (high order thinking) questions about which they were not intimated beforehand. A majority of the student community left the examination hall dissatisfied. Students felt that no amount of hard work or good luck could have prepared them for this disastrous paper pattern.

Students felt if they had been notified of this a year ago with proper sample papers and the teachers have been briefed on how to change their teaching pattern to match the new pattern then no doubt they all would have excelled. Education system that set papers that require application should also teach them in the same manner. Students are enraged that on one hand they forced to appear for such difficult papers and on the other the cut offs of the top universities and colleges will be same as last year when the paper was comparatively easily. The main concern of the parents is also that after giving their “100%” over the year if they still fail to score expected marks they end up being demoralized and depressed.

While everyone is busy blaming CBSE for the big maths exam disaster there are some people who think the focus should instead be on a bigger picture. This exam has just raised a big question on the whole ideology of our education system. The major complaint against this exam that the teachers, students and parents have is that it wasn’t according to the traditional pattern. Some people felt that the paper was a cake walk for those students who learnt and revised the subject well instead of completing NCERT book by rote 5 times. Here another question arises, are we teaching the students a subject or a traditional pattern that has to be followed like a ritual every year? What this exam did was exposing our education system where you set an analytical paper and everyone is in a fix. It’s high time that all we need is introspection to see where we lack in our education system.

After all the mixed reviews and facing discontent from everywhere CBSE is now planning its course of action. The Board officials have agreed that the paper pattern was altered and schools were not informed about it. Now what we can assume is a rationalization in the marking system or an improvement exam.