Calcutta, April 30: Starting 2015, higher secondary examinees in Bengal will have to take practical tests even in subjects such as Bengali, English and history.
The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education today decided to allot 20 marks for compulsory project work in all non-laboratory subjects with the objective of combining practical training with theoretical learning.
For students who take admission to Class XI in 2013, the written papers in such subjects in their higher secondary exam in 2015 will carry 80 marks each while the remaining 20 marks will be allotted to project work.
A meeting of council members this afternoon unanimously decided on the change, a significant break from the traditional system of having only written tests for non-laboratory subjects such as the languages, history, geography, political science and philosophy.
“We have decided to introduce project work comprising 20 marks in non-lab-based subjects such as Bengali, English, history and economics from 2013. We will soon finalise the topics that the students will be required to cover in their project work,” council president Muktinath Chatterjee said.
External examiners will evaluate the 20-mark project work during the HS exams.
The council also decided that practical examinations in laboratory-based subjects such as physics, chemistry and biology would carry 30 marks instead of 20 from 2013. The written papers in these subjects will carry 70 marks.
The government needs to approve the decisions, but that is considered a mere formality.
The proposal to introduce the project work is based on recommendations from the syllabus-restructure committee of the state government, headed by Avik Majumdar, a teacher of comparative literature in Jadavpur University. The CBSE mandates project work in non-lab subjects.
According to Chatterjee, one of the primary objectives of the 20-mark project work is to reduce the workload of students. “The move is also intended to make the learning process more enjoyable and interesting,” he added.
A former president of the council, however, cautioned that the students would benefit in real terms only if the schools can provide the infrastructure for projects.
“The council should have checked whether the schools have the infrastructure and adequate teachers to ensure that the students do the projects under proper guidance and supervision. Otherwise, the students will suffer in the long run,” he said.
“Many HS schools located in faraway rural belts do not have the necessary infrastructure and teaching staff to oversee such project work. English-medium schools in the city are more equipped to handle this,” a schoolteacher in Calcutta said.
The council also decided that students would write the Class XI annual exams at away centres and external examiners would check the papers. This system will start with students who take admission to Class XI in 2013 and write their annual exam in 2014.
For the past three years, the Class XI annual exams were being held at home centres even though the council was setting the question papers, raising doubts about proper invigilation.
“Since the students are known to the invigilators, sometimes the latter allegedly tend to be lax and allow the students to resort to unfair means. So the council will from now on organise the Class XI annual exam at away centres,” a council member said.
Council president Chatterjee announced that a merit list of 100 would be published from this year’s HS exam.
“In accordance with the directive of the school education department, we have decided to reintroduce the merit list,” he said.
THE CHANGES
Class XII
20 marks project work in all non-lab subjects
80 marks for written test in non-lab subjects instead of 100
30 marks for practical in lab-based subjects instead of 20
70 marks for written test instead of 80
Class XI
Students to write Class XI annual exam at away centres instead of home centres
