MANGALORE: Schools have started preparing 10th standard students to face their final examination.

Dakshina Kannada district, which has consistently topped the State with respect to SSLC results, came down to 14th place in 2006 after the introduction of new pattern of question paper. The new pattern included multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions.

According to senior school administrators the new pattern was not given enough publicity, and students of the 2006 batch had to face the examination without the knowledge of its features.

But this year, the managements of the schools have approached the Education Department for a briefing on the changes that the Government has brought into the examination pattern for 2007. The examination is scheduled from March 21 to March 28. Deputy Director of Public Instruction Shankarappa said there were a few changes in the question-paper pattern and division of marks, and minor changes in the answering pattern. According to the new guidelines, students appearing for the examination will not only have to indicate the option for the multiple-choice question but also have to write the selected answer in the space provided for it.

Mr. Shankarappa said that one mark would be awarded only when both these components of the answer were written. There was no provision for half a mark for the objective-type questions, he said. For the first and third languages, multiple-choice questions will have 40 marks and short-answer questions will have 60 marks. For the second language, multiple-choice questions will have 35 marks and short-answer questions will have 65 marks.

Mr. Shankarappa said that he had briefed the authorities of schools in Mangalore taluk about the guidelines.

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