Schools in Gautam Budh Nagar district are holding rigorous practice and doubt clarification sessions for students of classes 10 and 12, who will be sitting for the second-term of the Central Board of Secondary education (CBSE) exams to be held offline in April.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea for holding board exams online after which schools are trying to utilise the time by conducting practice sessions for students who have spent most of the current academic session by attending online classes.
The CBSE will conduct the class 10 and 12 second-term exams in offline mode from April 26.
The first-term papers were held in November. The pattern for the first-term exams was objective-type questions while the second-term exams will comprise subjective-type questions.
Renu Singh, principal of Amity International School, who is also the Noida region coordinator of the CBSE said, “Practice tests, based on the sample papers released by CBSE, are being conducted for classes 10 and 12 to ensure students are comfortable while attempting the subjective exams. In addition to this, special counselling sessions are being conducted to help children overcome their anxiety with respect to exams”.
Schools are focusing on helping students improve their writing speed as many have lost touch of writing on paper because of the extensive online classes.
“The second-term board exams will have objective, subjective and case study-based questions. Our school is providing guidance and practice sessions that will help students to improve their writing speed, critical thinking skills and help them familiarise themselves with the new exam pattern. We have also conducted counselling sessions to help our students cope emotionally with the sudden changes in schedules,” said Rajiv Bansal, director (operations), Global Indian International School, Noida.
Seem Kaur, principal of Pacific World School, Greater Noida said, “Special workshops to acquaint students with the art of writing good subjective answers by accentuating on underlining key words, proper line spacing etc. has become a regular feature to help them understand the necessity of good visual appeal. The idea is to give ample written practice to students to enable them to improve their answers with proper feedback and face the board exams confidently”.
“Parents are confident enough to send their children for offline examinations”, said Manoj Kataria, president of the Gautam Budh Nagar Parents’ Welfare Society.
“With daily Covid-19 cases declining and most of the students in class 10 and 12 vaccinated, parents are feeling confident to send their wards for offline board exams. Moreover, with two months to go for the board exams, students will get assisted guidance by attending offline classes during this time and will be able to clear their doubts, especially for difficult subjects such as mathematics and science,” Kataria added.
