Students and parents seek clarity on format of 2022 board exams

Board exams for both Std X and XII will be held in the offline mode this academic year. Representation pic

With the timetable for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams out now, students and parents are seeking clarity on the weightage of the different parts of the curriculum in all subjects. While the paper-pattern will remain the same for the written exam, the 25 per cent cut in syllabus due to pandemic has led to confusion among students on which chapter holds how much weightage.

While preparing for board exams, this is an important aspect for many students as they focus more on the lessons with a majority of weightage for a good score. With the announcement regarding dates, exam stress has become real with around two months left. Chairman of the Maharashtra State Board Sharad Gosavi was unavailable to comment.

Teachers said they were busy resolving confusion among students. "We are receiving many queries from students and also parents. After the declaration of the timetable, students have become serious. In a bid to prepare for the exam most effectively, students want to know which part of the curriculum holds the most weightage," said a Std X teacher from a state board school in Dahisar.

"Earlier, there used to be proper bifurcation of weightage between topics of curriculum which helped us with preparation. But now that 25 per cent of the syllabus is cut, we want to know what holds more importance," said Nikita Surase, a Std X student from Borivli. The weightage division is more important in subjects like Science, Mathematics and Social Science as compared to languages. "These three subjects are better scoring than languages, so it would be better to have clarity on what is more important to study," said Rashi Kamath, another student.

‘No need to worry'

Even as there is confusion among students, teachers said it is important to note that the part of the curriculum which is cut due to the pandemic does not involve a lot of theory. A senior teacher from a Kurla school explained, "The cut curriculum is more about activities held and projects to be done among all. There are very few complete topics which are cut. So, students need not really worry over it. But it is important for teachers to make them understand as they are bound to be anxious with board exams being held now."

Revised circular out

A revised circular was issued on the exam dates late on Monday. As per the circular, HSE exam will take place from March 4 to 30 while SSC exam will take place from March 15 to April 4. A detailed timetable will be published on the official website.