Patna, Aug. 15: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced a revamp of Class XII mathematics paper pattern by introducing short-answer-type questions carrying two marks and reducing the number of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) questions. The board issued the notice last week.

HOTS questions focus on the development of evaluating and analytical skills of a person rather than the memorising skills. Earlier, the mathematics paper of Class XII had 26 questions, which have been now raised to 29, including eight of 2 marks.

The announcement has brought cheers for students and parents. For the past two years, through agitations, they have been showing disappointment towards the difficulty level of the mathematics paper of Class XII and have even demanded re-exams. The board was flooded with complaints about the "discouraging" paper conducted on March 14.

Jayant Biswas, the vice-principal of Baldwin Academy and mathematics paper evaluator of the board, said: "Most students wrote rubbish. They either got tricked by the questions or did not study. With the revamp, I think most of the students will score more than 90 per cent in mathematics."

Sanjay Kumar, an evaluator and head of mathematics wing of Delhi Public School, said: "For the past two years, the mathematics paper with the focus on judging the high order thinking skills of students might be the reason behind a dip in the number of students scoring distinctions."

Princepe, a Class XI student of Bishop Scott Girls School, said she is looking forward to see the sample papers of Class XII mathematics. When she was solving the last two years' board papers, it took her almost five hours to finish a paper. "The questions were complex and there were very less questions that fell in the easy category," said the girl.

Students who will be appearing for the board examination next year, welcomed the move. Shubham Jha, a Class XII student of St Karen's High School, said: "High order thinking skills questions are tricky and for the past two years, they have been exceptionally tough. I am happy that the board will restrict such questions to only 10 per cent."

Father of two KP Panday said last year her daughter appeared for the Class XII board exam from Notre Dame Academy but he was not satisfied with her mathematics score. "Most of the students scored average in mathematics. The paper brought down her overall percentage," said Pandey.

CBSE public relations officer Rama Sharma said the mathematics paper will be set in such a manner that 20 per cent of the questions will fall in the easy category, while 60 per cent will be average and the remaining 20 per cent will be difficult. "Shorter questions require less time to solve and will help students to complete the paper on time. The tricky questions will now carry only 10 marks and will be split into two sections of four and six marks," she said.