Change in pattern of questions in CBSE board exams

NEW DELHI: The coming Class X and Class XII examinations of the CBSE will see a change in the pattern of questions, with the focus being more on understanding and analysis rather than memorising ability of students.
    
For the first time, 20 per cent of the questions will be based on `high-order thinking skills' as prescribed by the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), the guiding document for preparation of NCERT textbooks.
    
"This time, there will be a paradigm shift in typology and pattern of questions. It will require the students to interpret, critically think, analyse and synthesise for answering the questions," CBSE Chairman Ashok Ganguly said here on Thursday.
    
"There may be a paragraph of text and the students may be asked to go through it to answer certain questions. There will similar questions that can actually test the understanding of the students," he said.
    
Earlier, he said, students were able to answer knowledge-based questions by memorising from their textbooks.
    
Over 13.13 lakh students are appearing in the exams starting from March one.
    
While there are 7,65,095 candidates, including 4,49,742 boys, for the Class X exam, 5,48,815 students, including 3,18,618 boys, have registered for the Class XII exam.
    
The total number of candidates marks an eight per cent increase over the number of students last year. Over 12 lakh students had appeared in the test last year in the board exams, Ganguly said.