23 March 2006

Dubai: The Central Education Board of India has issued an observation schedule where pupils can record their grievances pertaining to question papers.

Pavnesh Kumar, controller of examination at the Central Board of Secondary Examination in New Delhi, said all affiliated schools have been given a model copy of the observation schedule.

"This is to give a fair deal to the comments on the question paper and redress genuine grievances of pupils," he said. "Once the problem is recorded in the observation schedule it should be forwarded within 24 hours of the conduct of the examination of the subject concerned. This is being done so that the observations made by pupils could be considered by the expert group while preparing the marking scheme."

According to the board, pupils should use separate forms while registering grievances against separate question papers.

The new initiative taken by the board will come as a respite for over a million pupils who are currently appearing for their Grade 10 and Grade 12 examinations.

Last year a bunch of Grade 12 examinees had lodged a complaint with the school and the board against the invigilator during their science exam for distributing question papers 15 minutes late. Demanding compensation in marks for loss of time, the pupils had even sent a signed written complaint to the board.

Last week, complaints poured in from Grade 10 pupils who appeared for a maths exam. According to them they were unable to answer all the questions as the question paper was lengthy.

Madhav Rao, principal of Our Own English High School, said: "Observation reports are also sent to the board by the schools as well. If they are asking the pupils to do the observation it will be quite good. Pupils can also take school help. I do not see much hue and cry made by pupils with regard to the maths question paper being lengthy. I have not seen a profound reaction."

"The pupils are the major stakeholders in this whole thing. It is nice thing to make them participatory in the whole examination process," said Lakhsmi Ramachandran, principal of the Millennium School, Dubai.

"The pupils from my schools did complain about the maths paper being lengthy. Those who might have excelled might have lost out. However, our school supervisor is consulting with other school heads; then we will decide how to go about it."

Pupils in their comments to Gulf News said the board should take a mature outlook on the problems raised by them during exams.

"The observation schedule is a good concept but personally I am bit sceptical whether it will be taken seriously by the board," said Manish Ahuja, a Grade 10 pupil.

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By Sunita Menon

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.