The exam season is upon students with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examination for Class XII kicking off on Friday.
However, a majority of students in Tamil Nadu will begin their board examinations on Saturday, with the Marketing paper.
Schools across the county including the ones in Tamil Nadu which are centres for the examinations have been instructed to abide by several rules for the smooth conduct of the exams. Following a question paper leak, the CBSE had taken the decision to make Class XII students re-take the Economics exam in 2018.
P. Ashok Shankar, secretary of the CBSE Schools Management Association, said that the board this year had enforced strict regulations with regard to the conduct of the examinations across centres. “Students have been instructed to be in the centres by 9.45 and schools have been instructed not to allow anyone after 10 a.m. The board is coming down heavily on malpractice of any kind,” he said.
The head of a school in the city too said that they had received instructions to frisk students before they walk into the centres.
There are, however, no major changes as far as the examination patterns are concerned this year for the students who are hoping for a smooth month ahead before they delve into preparing for competitive entrance exams.
“Having finished our usual round of revision exams as well as our pre-board exams, we are now in the last leg of our study holidays. There are no major changes as far as the exam patterns are concerned and we hope that the papers are easy,” said N. Smitha, a student from the city. Teachers have asked students like her to ensure that they are calm when they are seated in the exam hall and read the question paper thoroughly in the 15-minute time that they are given from 10.15 to 10.30 a.m.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the CBSE sent out letters to both parents as well as students who will be taking up the examinations this year. Parents have been asked to instruct their children about what can be carried into the exam hall as well as report malpractice, rumours or any suspicious activity by e-mailing the board. The board has further cautioned against spreading wrong information or fake news regarding the board exams as well as against sharing question papers through social media and has said that this will be considered as unfair means.
For CBSE students of Class X, examinations will commence on February 21 and end on March 29.
Shorter schedule
While the Class XII CBSE exams will come to a close by April 4, the State board exams in Tamil Nadu will begin on March 1 and wrap up on March 19. Last year, the Tamil Nadu School Education Department had announced that they would drop two papers for all languages and have just a single paper. This was done to ensure that the the corrections as well as announcement of results are done at the earliest.