Students in regional language schools across the state are having a tough time as they prepare for the Secondary School Certificate's (SSC) paper on Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The paper will be available for the students only in English, Marathi or Urdu.
The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) had introduced the subject for class X this academic year in line with the requirements of the Central Government's ICT Policy, 2008.
On March 24, over 4.17 lakh students will appear for the ICT theory paper. Last year, over 2 lakh students from regional mediums appeared for the SSC board exam. While the state board allows the students to answer the questions in the medium of instruction approved by their school, schools can provide question papers in just three languages. Students can answer in English, Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Telugu, Urdu, Sindhi or Hindi. "Sometimes, it is difficult for students to comprehend questions in a language that they do not understand very well," said Vilas Parab, principal, Balmohan Vidyamandir, Dadar.
Schools had faced difficulties even during the academic year as the study material wasn't available in all languages. "We had to use English textbooks to teach the students and have tried to prepare them as well as we could but the students will definitely have a tough time. As it is a board exam, there is no way to provide assistance in case they do not understand a question," said, M Zare, Principal, Sheth Gopalji Hemraj High School, Borivali's Gujarati section.
Board authorities have assured otherwise. "In the age of computers everyone uses a little bit of English and the technical words will be in English. So there is nothing that students need to worry about," said Laxmikant Pande, chairperson of the board's Mumbai division.
However, according to schools the board must allow schools to conduct the examination. "Like all other graded subjects, the board should allow us to conduct the ICT exam. This will solve the board's issue of having to create question papers in all languages," said Prashant Redij, principal, Hilda Castelino Marathi High School, Kandavli.
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