Jamshedpur, Aug. 9: The Indian Council for Secondary Education (ICSE) has decided to combine Hindi I and Hindi II as well as all the second language papers into a single three-hour paper.

Letters announcing the decision reached the city schools today.

The decision has been taken by the board to reduce the six-hour burden on students, who have to answer two papers of three-hours’ duration each on the same subject. It also marks the beginning of reforms in the examination pattern.

Deputy secretary of ICSE board, Delhi, Xavier Pinto said apart from clubbing the papers, the board has also decided to allot 15 minutes of reading time before each paper before the Class XII examination.

“The duration of the combined Hindi paper in the Class X board examination will be for three hours. The board will implement the combined second language paper in the 2006-07 academic year,” Pinto said.

He added that 15 minutes of reading time for Class XII students would be implemented from 2005.

“No other board allots six hours for one paper and it will be unfair on the part of the council to impose two papers for one subject on students. Now English remains the only subject with two papers but that, too, would be combined in the future, but any change needs to be gradual,” the deputy secretary said.

“Our attempt is to test the child on the knowledge that he or she has and not by the number of hours spent in the examination hall. We are laying emphasis on the teaching-learning method, which helps the child think and apply reason,” Pinto said.

Increasing the chunk of marks for internal evaluation is also on the board’s agenda. “We plan to increase internal evaluation marks. We might increase the marks kept aside for internal evaluation to 50,”he said. Teachers in the city schools welcomed the proposed evaluation system.

“If the system of 50 per cent marks for internal evaluation is implemented, students will feel less burdened during the examination. It will also help children retain more as they will devote more time to the subject through the final year,” said Shobha Maidan, principal, ADLS Sunshine School.

“To judge a student on those three hours in the hall is slightly unfair. The child might not be in the right frame of mind or in some students, the examination fear psychosis sets in at the crucial moment. All these things can actually ruin a paper. Internal evaluation helps judge the students on the basis of their performance throughout the year,” Madan added.