Now, SSLC students have to write more to score more

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri said the question paper pattern would favour descriptive type questions over multiple choice and objective type questions by a ratio of 75:25.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Kageri said: “The decision to revert to the traditional pattern has been taken with a view to laying emphasis on the written skills of students. The examinations should not be limited to being a memory test and should be an evaluation of the knowledge and skills acquired by the student.”

He added there would be no change in the duration of the examination, and that the students would only be given three hours to write the exam.

Kageri said the decision to move away from the objective pattern was taken after considering the recommendations of the report submitted by the Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS) and two earlier reports by experts, Jayalakshmi Devi and Dr Srikanta Swamy.

All the three reports had suggested that the written and analytical skills of students suffered due to objective type questions.

The SSLC examination question paper pattern for 2008-09 favoured objective and multiple choice questions by a ratio of 60:40. Meanwhile, the department has also changed the schedule for the mid-term examinations. According to the new schedule, the examinations will be held before the mid-term vacation. Kageri said only schools belonging to the Mysore region would be allowed to declare holidays during the Dasara festival in September.

Subject-wise weightage
Subject                        Total              No of             No of
                                    Questions     Descriptive    MCQs
First language               67                  32                  35
Second language          58                   25                  33
Mathematics                  58                   28                  30
Science                          61                   25                  36
Social Science               60                    26                  34