SIMPLE SOLUTION

Shimla, March 5: Himachal Pradesh has found a way of keeping board examinations easy enough to allow the average student to pass but tough enough so that only the brilliant secure high marks.

At a time when many boards, scrambling for high success rates, may have made papers and evaluation so easy that even very high scores are no guarantee of outstanding merit, education authorities here say they know how to separate the very good from the rest.

The idea is simple. Divide every question paper into three parts — very easy, easy and difficult, corresponding to the abilities of “below-average, average and brilliant students”, explained B.R. Rahi, chairman, Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education.

“We’ve seen that in a conventional system of examinations, sometimes papers are so easy that even average and below-average students secure very high marks and are counted on a par with brilliant students.

“Or else, the paper is so tough that only the good students pass,” Rahi, the brain behind the innovation, told The Telegraph.

From 2008, all the three board exams in the state — Middle (after Class VIII), Matriculation (after Class X) and Higher Secondary (after Class XII) — will follow the new system.

“We’ll have three types of questions: 40 per cent will be simple questions that even below-average students can answer,” Rahi explained. With the pass marks being 33 per cent, they should have no problem clearing the papers.

“Another 40 per cent will contain average or simple questions and the remaining 20 per cent will be made tough to test the brilliance of the students. All the questions will be set from the syllabus and the examinees will be asked to answer every one of them.”

Rahi claims the new system will “automatically test students’ IQ (intelligence quotient)”.

In every other sense, the exams will be “conventional”, the board chief said.

“We won’t be using computers and IT as most of our schools are located in rural areas. About 6 lakh students (Middle, Matric and Higher Secondary) sit in board exams every year and more than 36 lakh answer sheets are examined.”

Rahi said that to his knowledge, such a three-tier exam system was not in vogue anywhere else in the country or the world. “We’re pioneers in introducing this in our state.”

Educators have welcomed the move. “All classes of students will benefit,” said Ghanshyam Chauhan, chemistry professor with the Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.