The Hindu : New Delhi News : Experts propose flexible exam time framework

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 25, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Experts propose flexible exam time framework

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 24. Stressing the need for discouraging the coaching class and pre-Board examination culture, the Expert Group on Stress Free Education today proposed a more flexible time framework for examinations and allowing students to take re-examination in every subject.

Attended by around 34 experts, including heads of premier institutes like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), apart from chief of Boards such as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE), the meeting was also attended by educationists and psychologists. The recommendations made at the meeting will be submitted to the Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) for consideration.

While the general feeling was that tests should not be merely a test of speed for students, the Group felt that the time schedule should be made more flexible to reduce stress. "We proposed that subject-wise re-examination should be allowed. It was also felt that more time should be given to students for writing the tests. After all, what is the point of so much tension,'' said noted educationist Prof. Yash Pal.

One of the much-debated issues during the meeting was the high level of stress caused by competitive exams and how it could be reduced. Reacting to the feeling in one section that changing the exam pattern in any way would lead to dilution of quality, Ministry officials said since there was no chance of a compromise on quality, the question of dilution did not arise.

Some of the other proposals made during the meeting included that the examination centres should not be located too far away from the student's school and that postponement of exams should be avoided. The deliberations of the meeting would be put up on the CBSE and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) websites to encourage a national debate on the issues, which the Ministry said would be used to formulate a strategy by August or September. "We have to create a balance between reducing stress and improving quality,'' the Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh, said. Noting that four basic points had emerged from the meeting, P.V. Sharma, principal of Delhi College of Engineering, said the quality of teaching was one of the main concerns. "One of the things to do is to use a combined parameter of the entrance as well as the Class XII results like we do in our college. And while continuous assessment is another important method, it requires high integrity and professional morals from teachers. And unfortunately teachers' integrity is an area of importance,'' Mr. Sharma.

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