Mumbai: Students appearing for preliminary examinations of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) are happy with the new pattern of board examinations. They claim, scrapping of internal assessment has given them an opportunity to focus more on theory papers rather than oral tests and submission of projects.
State-board schools are setting question papers for prelims based on the new pattern where all subjects apart from Mathematics and Science will be for 100 marks. Earlier, all language subjects had 80 marks theory and 20 marks internal assessment. But this year, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) scrapped the internal assessment.
Students reveal 100 marks paper gives them a chance to focus on theory without worrying much about practical assessment. Navneet Sundar, a student said, “We do not have to prepare projects, submit them before examinations and spend time on learning for oral tests. We can use all our time to focus entirely on theory lessons and give our best.” While Shantanu Das, another student said, “In internals, we have to submit projects by January end and we end up wasting our time which we can otherwise use to study and prepare for board examination.”
Schools are preparing question papers according to the new pattern in order to prepare students. Shailaja Diwan, a teacher said, “We want students to get accustomed to the new marking pattern so that they can complete their papers on time during their final examination.” A senior officer of MSBSHSE, said, “We scrapped internal assessment as we received several complaints about schools giving marks liberally to students.”
On the other hand, parents are still complaining about this decision of the board. Bhushan Segal, a parent said, “Internal assessment helps students to develop personality and also score higher marks especially in language subjects. It gives them a chance to enhance their communication skills, build up confidence and enhance creativity through projects and submissions.” The SSC board examination will be conducted from March 1 till March 22.