Testing Time For CBSE Students

CBSE Class X students who have opted for Hindi medium are in a dilemma as they don’t have social sciences textbooks. Ironically, the examinations are scheduled in March. With just two months to go for the exams, the anxious students have written to the CBSE Board in Delhi to help them out.

Most students who have opted for Hindi medium are from the northern states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh etc. In 18 Kendriya Vidyalayas across the city, children of military personnel or central government employees study.

"We were expecting the textbooks to arrive at least before the exam, but it seems they are not interested in bringing out enough copies for Hindi medium students," said a student of Kendria Vidyalaya 2, Golconda. He has written to the board for a copy of the book but there is no response yet. The students had written their half-yearly examination in November without so much as having a glimpse of the textbook. Now that the pre-boards are about to begin, the students are all at sea as there is no hope left for seeing the book.

The students are currently depending on notes given by their teachers to study for the examinations. However, these notes are not adequate. "The new textbooks differ in form and content hence it is difficult for anyone to translate them. But some thing is better than nothing. The students will have to rely on notes given by teachers alone for the boards," Kendriya Vidyalaya 2, Golconda, social science teacher Indu Agarwal told ‘TOI’.

Also, the CBSE Board had announced that a change in the question paper would be effected in 2008. According to the new pattern, students would have to answer 10 objective questions each carrying one mark. And the questions are expected to be more application-oriented, which was not the case last year.

The subject has also become very vast this year with increase in the number of textbooks. In place of a single textbook covering history, geography, economics and political science, they would have to refer to five books, including one on disaster management.

"We have to make sure that the Hindi medium students follow the new syllabi even though they do not have textbooks. This is a very difficult task considering the vast portion," Agarwal said.

Courtesy : TIMES OF INDIA