Bhubaneswar, Nov. 4: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to discontinue an experient that has apparently failed.

A communication from the CBSE to discontinue the problem solving assessment (PSA) for students of Classes IX and XI has brought smiles on the faces of teachers and students in its affiliated schools across the state.

The PSA was an assessment test aimed at preparing students of these two classes for various competitive examinations.

However, a large number of teachers and students resented the PSA because it lacked clarity in the allocation of marks and assessment of students.

"The assessment was introduced three years ago and was expected to help solve application-based problems and hone the research and analytical skills of the students," said DAV Odisha zone regional director K.C. Satpathy.

"But it had been drawing criticism from various quarters, especially the teachers and students. The letter about PSA being discontinued reached us from the CBSE on October 30 and we shared it with the students. All of them are elated."

The circular issued by the board has asked the schools to conduct a formative assessment for Class IX students of the 2014-2015 academic year who could not take the PSA or wanted to improve their scores.

Niharika Gantayat, the academic supervisor of DAV Public School, Chandrashekharpur, said the PSA had questions related to reasoning, general knowledge, mathematics and science. The marks obtained in these sections were added to the scores of the respective subjects of the students.

"Though PSA was introduced with a very positive purpose and provided the students a platform to unleash their creativity and talent, many students found it tough and it affected their overall scores," said Gantayat.

"PSA was a good experiment by the board and had a lot of scope for the students to analyse their aptitude. It would not have brought immediate results but it would certainly have helped them in the long run. Unfortunately, it had to be dropped," she said.

However, authorities in a number of schools said students who were already taking coaching for competitive exams scored well in PSA while others did not. "Although we tried to have students practise for PSA with sample papers, it did not help much as they already had other subjects to concentrate on," said Piyush Jena, a teacher in another private school.

Students, too, appear happy with the move to scrap the PSA.

"It is a great relief. Earlier our scores used to be affected due to poor scores in PSA. Introduction of formative assessment is a good decision and will make a huge difference in our marks," said Shatabdi Maharana, a student from Mothers Public School.

"The PSA was particularly difficult for students not interested in science subjects. I am inclined towards humanities and social sciences and have no business spending my time in reasoning and stuff. How would it have helped me in the long run?" said Subhra Panda, another student.