The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) is set the begin the Class 10 Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) from February 18. Students appearing in the examination are presently going through the last stages of preparation. To help students in during the final days before the exam, The Telegraph Online Edugraph spoke with Educators and Experts to guide the students during this challenging time.
For Bengali, we spoke with Educator Madhuleena Sen, Head of the Department, Bengali at Agrasain Boys' School, Liluah who shared her valuable insights on the keys focus areas of the subject and the approach to maintained by students while answering the question paper.
The Bengali Paper consists of two sections, Section A and Section B.
"Section A of the Bengali Paper carries a total of 40 marks. In Question 1, you have to write an essay, where you will also have the option to write a short story or an original story, along with an image-based description. The essay carries 15 marks, and you must write it within 250 to 300 words. The other questions include letter writing, comprehension and questions from Grammar," said teacher Madhuleena Sen.
Teacher Sen advised students to be careful with spellings, especially with the names of people, places or any categories or objects mentioned in the text.
"While writing an essay, use a suitable title. Before starting an essay, you may include a relevant quote or a saying from a great personality related to the topic. However, ensure that the quote you use is accurate. The entire essay should be divided into three sections: Introduction, Main Content and Conclusion," she said.
"When answering passage-based questions, highlight or underline keywords to make them stand out. Use the same ink for underlining and avoid changing pens frequently. Select answers directly from the passage. To get full marks, underline the keywords in your response," she added.
For the grammar section, she adviced students to be careful while mentioning the question number. She said, "Write the correct question number and then select the right option. Additionally, mention the answer itself along with the option. This way, even if one part is incorrect, you may still receive marks for the other."
"In Section B, you must answer one question from each of the two prescribed books, and the remaining two answers should also be from these books. When writing answers, remember that keywords are the most important. Underline them to make them stand out for the examiner," she advised.
For better management of time, she asked students to utilise the 15-minute reading time wisely to stratagize which section or question you will attempt first. She also advised them not to switch between sections as it may waste valuable time.
"Three hours is plenty of time, and you should use it effectively to your advantage," she said.
Talking about the importance of revision during the final days before the examination, Madhuleena Sen said, "Make sure to revise everything you have studied throughout the year. Carefully go through every line of the prose, poetry, and novel in your syllabus. For poetry, thoroughly understand the summary of each poem."
"For both prose and poetry, remember details about the author, such as their pen name, any awards they have received, their first poetry or story collection and at least two additional works (poetry and story collections). If a particular story is set against a specific historical or social background, be sure to remember that context as well," she concluded.