Thursday, June 25, 2009

Should the Class X board exam be abolished?

In a bid to reform the Indian education system, Kapil Shibal, HRD Minister of India said that the government is planning to scrap the compulsory secondary board exam at Class X and develop an alternative method to evaluate students’ aptitude. According to Mr. Shibal, the current education system is a “recipe for disaster.” Only 11 students out of every one hundred students in India reach to graduate level. Currently, there are 547 million people in India under twenty years of age and only 11% of them will become graduates.


Mr. Shibal unveiled his one hundred day plan and said that there will be a one single board and under that board, there will be one uniform exam which will determine which knowledge stream a student should chose in future. This new system will reduce the pressure upon students and parents. In addition, the present percentage based evaluation system will be replaced by an alternative system “based on percentiles.”


I live in Bangladesh and we also have board exam system at the secondary and higher secondary levels and students get to apply for colleges and universities based on their marks in these exams. I admit that it is a painful system because it only focuses on “how much number a student gets” not “what he/she knows.” This has led to rote learning and memorization. There are many students who get very good marks but they do not have better understandings of their subjects which creates lots of problem when they reach graduate level. In a sense, the decision of Mr. Shibal makes sense but the most importantly “Will the alternative system make a difference?” “Will it make study and exams less painful and motivate students to study?”


Related articles:

The Hindu

IBN Live

The Times of India

20 comments:

  1. i think class 10 boards should remain

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  2. Abolishment of class 10th boards is a necessity so as to combat pressure deaths.I would just give you an example of a boy of our own city who committed siucide just because he had failed in 10th board exams.And moreover, they also help children to get mature enough till the +2 boards arise ensuring that they give all they have in +2 boards and get best results.

    Deepak Chawla(a class 10 student)

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  3. its good that they are not being held

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  4. i think the exams remain same because u could not followed the figure of suicide for the result of board but we all know that its one kind of filter that start from ssc and if u remove that one so its going to be tough for that student in future or in hsc so why we take the risk of 2 year and why we waste our parents money instead of better to take dropout.and if exams are remain same then we will face one kind of challange that everyone has to face it or leave it so why we make compromise in that which learne you lot things..

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  5. Class X exams should be a must. Infact exams are an important part of education system. They certainly test the individuals mental capability and capacity. If at all we are concerned about exams, we need to think on improving the exam pattern as well as teaching system or methodology using videos and powerpoint presentations. I dont think abolishing exams is the way to go.

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  6. Class X exams should be a must. Infact exams are an important part of education system. They certainly test the individuals mental capability and capacity. If at all we are concerned about exams, we need to think on improving the exam pattern as well as teaching system or methodology using videos and powerpoint presentations. I dont think abolishing exams is the way to go.

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  7. really can't understand what Mr. kapil is thinking. Class X is very important in one individuals career. Also this will create a good amount of responsibility that a person has to undergo in his life. this will actally give a upper hand to persons life in terms of physcological effect as well. I dont understand the point in cancelling as it will create much chaos. Ministry is thinking that if we cancel more of backward can come in to picture, but thats not the case, worse will become much worser. Perhaps, this may be the instruction from vatican in order to make India an illetrate community.

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  8. Completely abolishing is not good . Because i think at the age 14-15 years a student has enough capacity and resistance to tackle the exams. If its abolished at 10 th itself what about the later stage where one has to face much tougher ones engg/medicene/law/commerce/management,. etc.

    A change of pattern instead of those lengthy 3 hrs essay type Q&A to something like short and quicker ones similar to the Q paper format during campus intervies conducted at graduation level would have been good

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  9. Class X is a milestone. The student normally starts selecting his optional subjects like science/commerce/arts etc. after this stage. He should have an idea of his own potential before chosing his future. Also that the seniors like his parents, teachers etc. will also come to know about his/her tastes by knowing how he fared in the exams.

    Class X marks card is also considered as 'AGE' certificate. His authontic date of birth will be available in class X marks card.

    Marks may or may not encourage/discourage the student, gradation would be prudent alternative for this. But abolishing exams may be a poor decision. Also, it should not be optional, it should be compulsory.

    The idea of abolishing class X exams looks to be misleading - foe the class X students of 2010-11 CBSE. If Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to do so, it may lose its popularity and standard.

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  10. I too agree with all of other's removing 10th Board is not a good decision.Though the education given in this class comes of no use in our future but it becomes as a tag to a student's life.I agree for, changing the way of education we receive.Practical application's should also be there.This crucial year help's us in deciding which path we have to take.Exam's are there to check our capacity and capability.By removing or keeping the board optional,education department is giving student's a wrong intention of running from there exam's and fearing it...

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  11. I THINK BOARD EXAMS SHOULD NOT BE ABOLISHED AS THEY ARE THEIR TO CHECK OUR CAPIBILITY.

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  12. The class 10 boards are very compulsory! Its a must because every student will know his/her potentiality in 10th class. The reason for abolishing the class 10 boards according to the ministry is that students should not face pressure.If a child cannot sustain such competition in class 10 how can he face the increased cut throat competition in class 12?? Its an utter waste to abolish the boards!!

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  13. According to me it should be abolished. Normally the students appearing for boards are 15-16 years of age which is a very fragile age. In this age students normally are unable to tackle enormous pressure and stress due to boards which ultimately leads to suicide attempts.

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  14. Its a relief for the Nation that this Examination is abolished.Study Pressure finally results in tension,anxiety,suicidal cases etc.There are alternatives by which a student's aptitude can be tested.Board Exam is not the solution.It is a traditional and a primitive method of analyzing the students.What is the use of having Board Exam when the average school dropout rate in India is 39%? Students should enjoy studying.The fact is that most of the students who get high marks is not because of their intelligence but because of their power of memorization.They face great problems in later in life. RADHIKA RAY,KOLKATA

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  15. board exams should definitely be there so as to create a environment tough surrounding for higher studies..

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  16. I would say "The more you hit, the stronger it becomes" .
    I don't know why people treat board exams as something different from any other final examination. Students write final exam for all their classes then why fear from one more final exam which is just named as Board Exam?

    Board Exams are corrected by some professional outside your school. But a good student who knows that he would perform well should not bother whoever is correcting the paper.

    If I would have the power I would impose board exams for all the classes straight from 5th or 6th. This would make the students get used to the board exams and would not feel any different writing the 10th exam i.e. board exams become a habit to them. But unfortunately we cannot implement this system as we need a lot of people to correct so many papers.

    So my final opinion Board exams should not be removed in any case.
    Source(s):

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  17. in my opinion boards must not be abolished bcoz school F.A tests are much more difficult than board exams also school evaluation is very strict.then in schools some teachers r favouring their tution students .so for overall benefit of students boards must be there.

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  18. Thanks friends for such wonderful thoughts... the ones in favor and against are very much valid .. though i too personally feel there should be exams ... be it board or any other exams ... it helps to know our real potential... whats the use of an education system where we are not tested for what we have learnt.

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  19. now i also agree with you all

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  20. Board exams should be there as they help oneself prepare for future exams.FA'' have incresed the pressure and trouble and gives no time for extra curricular activities.

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