Maharashtra: Special Measures Announced To Make Board Exams More Student-Friendly

On Thursday, February 3, state board chairman Sharad Gosavi reportedly mentioned that the Maharashtra board examinations for grades 10 and 12 will be conducted offline on the previously decided dates. Based on accounts, class 12 examinations are scheduled to be held from March 4 to 30. Similarly, for grade 10 it is slated to be held from March 15 to April 4.

Previously, confusion existed after the state board sent a proposal to the Maharashtra government, asking that the offline examinations be postponed after a virtual conversation with state education minister Bacchu Kadu. 

According to narratives, the resolution to conduct offline exams resulted in student protests across Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, amongst other parts of Maharashtra a few days ago. The concerned parties voiced their concern that any last-minute changes could cause confusion. 

Apart from this, the state government had mentioned that students could submit their examination forms a day before the exams. 

On Thursday, state school education minister, Varsha Gaikwad released a statement highlighting special measures for the board exams. These include:

• The student will write their exams in the school or college they study in.
• Students will receive more time to complete their exams. An extra time of 30 minutes will be given for a 70-100 mark paper and 15 minutes for a 40-60 mark paper. Moreover, question papers will be given 10 minutes before the starting bell. 
• A minimum additional time of 20 minutes per hour of examination will be given as compensatory time to students with disabilities. This is over the extra time stated previously.
• The curriculum was cut by 25 per cent, thus, exam questions will be asked from the remaining 75 per cent syllabus. 
• Practical examinations for grade 12 will be done according to the 40 per cent of the subject-wise syllabus for practicals or the number of completed experiments, whichever is greater.
• Practical examinations for grade 10 will be done according to the 40 per cent of the subject-wise syllabus for practicals or the number of completed experiments, whichever is greater. If it is not possible to hold practical exams, assessments can be done through the written mode. 

In order to conduct the upcoming Std.10th-12th board exams in a secure & student friendly environment, the@msbshse has annouced special measures today. Below are some of the salient features. pic.twitter.com/oKjMIaA3WP

— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) February 3, 2022

Owing to the 40 per cent cap, educational institutions will have the flexibility to select experiments for exams. Examiners both internal and external will be given the same institution.