Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students taking compartmental or improvement examinations would get less chances to clear the tests from the next year.

The students of classes X and XII used to get five (annual plus four) chances to clear the papers.

“From the next year, the Class X students would get only one chance. The Class XII students would, however, get three chances to clear the compartmental examinations,” said a CBSE official based at the board’s New Delhi office.

The board’s decision to cut down on the number of chances for the students to clear the compartmental examinations has not gone down well with several schools.

DAV Khagaul principal D.K. Ghosh said: “We have not yet received an official notice about the new pattern of the examination. However, this is injustice to the students. The board should ensure that the students should get maximum relaxation under the present circumstances.” He added: “Health is a factor and there can be a situation that a student has met with an accident. If they don’t get enough chances to clear their examinations, it will have a demoralising effect on them.”

S.M. Jha, media coordinator of Gyan Niketan, said, “We have not yet any notification so far. But if the board takes the decision, the students have to be more alert.”

Rakesh Kumar, a Class X student of a city-based school, said: “Though the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation and grading system have been introduced, we cannot take a risk. There is always a fear of getting low marks. In case we get low marks, we need more chances to take the compartmental examination. Getting just one chance is injustice. How can the CBSE expect all the students to clear a paper in one chance?”

Gunjan, a Class XII student of another school in the state capital, said: “This is not done. We should get more chances to clear the compartmental examinations. If we fail in a subject, we should get more chances to clear the paper. We cannot appear for all the subjects and start afresh.”

Class X students getting E1 (21-32 marks) or E2 (0-20 marks) in the board examination need to take compartmental test to clear their paper/s. In the case of school-based examination, the students would have to take the school-conducted compartmental exam. Those appearing for the board-based examination would have to take the compartmental test conducted by the board.