The SSLC results this year have made one thing clear — the blueprint orientation for questions will have to change. If the papers were any indication, questions that will challenge the students’ thinking and analytical skills have become the staple in the new system.
S. Bhaktavatsalam, State president of the Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers’ Association, said there were many questions in the High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) category, unlike those in the blueprint they usually followed or the questions they faced during the previous years.
“While we understand that the Education Department is trying to make the papers more challenging, we are worried about how students in rural areas will cope,” he explained.
The association had submitted a representation to the Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE), asking for grace marks to be awarded for students in the mathematics paper.
“The blueprint-oriented teaching methodology will have to change, and definitely, strong orientation is needed both for teachers and students, especially since they will have to face two more board exams,” said G.J. Manohar, senior principal of the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School.
“While it was a creative paper, the difficulty level was much more compared to the question papers from the previous years. Many of my classmates and I expected to score better,” said S. Rekha, a student from the city.
Drop in centums
While the DGE has not released a total tally of the number of centums scored in each subject, teachers said there had been a definitive drop in the same.
The School Education Department, over the last two years, has been advancing its exam schedules as well as announcement of results. This was primarily done for Plus Two to give students adequate time to prepare for competitive examinations like NEET.
“Classes X and XI should however have more working days if we are to tackle the syllabus effectively,” said R. Visalakshi, President of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools’ Association.