Teenagers who feel safe at school get higher grades

Feeling unsafe at school may hamper a student's learning potential and also contribute to more emotional problems.

By: IANS | Toronto | Published:August 25, 2016 5:22 pm

Feeling unsafe at school may hamper a student’s learning potential and also contribute to more emotional problems, warns new research.

“We found that students who felt safer were more attentive and efficient in the classroom. These students also reported fewer symptoms of depression, such as feeling unhappy and having difficulty enjoying themselves,” said one of the researchers Caroline Fitzpatrick, Professor of Psychology at Sainte-Anne’s University in Nova Scotia, Canada.
“Making sure that students are engaged and attentive in the classroom can contribute to long-term success above and beyond intellectual capacities such as reading or math skills,” Fitzpatrick noted.
The researchers used data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development — an ongoing study that began in 1998 with a cohort of 2,120 five-month-old infants — to investigate whether feeling unsafe at school interferes with classroom engagement.
They also considered whether this association is expressed through reduced student well being, including symptoms of depression and aggressive behaviour.
The findings, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, showed that being a victim of school violence and feeling unsafe both contribute to symptoms of depression, which are detrimental to students’ learning potential.
However, factors typically linked to feeling unsafe, such as bullying or school violence, only partly explain why students feel less secure.
“We know from some of our previous research that youth who experience chronic poverty and those living in ‘bad’ neighbourhoods also tend to feel less safe at school,” Carolyn Cote-Lussier from the University of Ottawa explained.
“We think that this might be the case because teenagers who live in disorderly, disadvantaged neighbourhoods ‘carry’ their fears to school every day,” Cote-Lussier noted.
“The features of the physical environments in which schools are located are also really important. For example, green spaces and well maintained buildings are likely to make youth feel more at ease,” she said.

Source : http://indianexpress.com/article/education/teenagers-who-feel-safe-at-school-get-higher-grades/

CBSE Class 10 recheck, reval results 2016 declared

CBSE Class 10 recheck/reval results 2016: The results have been declared online.

By: Express Web Desk | Noida | Published:August 25, 2016 12:19 pm

 

CBSE Class 10 recheck/reval results 2016: The results have been declared online.
 
CBSE Class 10 recheck/reval results 2016: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released the results of the Class 10 re-evaluation and rechecking results for the CBSE Class 10 Board examinations 2016. Students can check their results on the official result portal of the Board.
The results have been declared for all regions for regular as well as private candidates.
The results of the CBSE Class 12 re-evaluation and rechecking results 2016 have already been declared on the website.
Steps to check the CBSE Class 10 recheck/reval results 2016:
Log on to the official website of the Board, cbseresults.nic.in
The link to the result portal will be available on the main page itself. Go to your result link
You will be redirected to a new page. Enter your roll number and date of birth.
Your result will be available when you click on “Submit” or press “Enter”
Check your result and save a copy to your computer
You can also click on the “Reset” button to re-enter your details.
The CBSE conducts yearly Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) level examinations in affiliated schools across the country as well as in schools in about 13 countries. Every year, the CBSE conducts these examinations and prescribes syllabus for these schools as well from class 1 to 12.
The Board is also responsible for conducting the National Eligibility – cum – Eligibility Test (NEET) examination. The CBSE recently published the result of the NEET Phase 1 and NEET Phase 2 examinations 2016 on its official result portal. Students are advised to check the website on a regular basis for timely updates.
Source : http://indianexpress.com/article/education/cbse-class-10-recheck-reval-results-2016-declared-cbse-nic-in-cbseresults-nic-in2995350/

INDIATODAY.IN  NEW DELHI, AUGUST 12, 2016 | UPDATED 12:27 IST

How the digital era is breaking learning barriers

In the digital era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of almost every economic and social activity. Education, the most revered and productive human activity, too is highly influenced by the power of 1 and 0 in the action packed digital era.

digital learning

Dr Heidi Hayes Jacobs, one of the most recognised education leaders and the inventor of Curriculum Mapping once said, "Teachers need to integrate technology seamlessly into the curriculum instead of viewing it as an add-on, an afterthought, or an event."

In the digital era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of almost every economic and social activity. Without digital technology, life is a big challenge to live and move forward because everything is governed and controlled by it today. Education, the most revered and productive human activity, too is highly influenced by the power of 1 and 0 in the action packed digital era.

Today, digitised information crosses barriers of time, space and efficiency. One can search for knowledge in multiple ways using multiple tools irrespective of the location and time. A smart search on Google through mobile, laptop or tab offer tons of learning options such as MOOCs, lectures, Skype classes, webinars, video conferencing and online chat with the master of a subject.

Benefits of an ICT-enabled education sector:

With the onset of ICT in the education sector, knowledge sharing has become an easy and effective activity. The accessibility to knowledge sources leads to speedy sharing, storage and analysis of content under a definite perspective. The ability to sift through a large amount of data is the biggest advantage of digital techniques and processes.

However, the role of digital technology in education is not restricted knowledge acquisition, its impact is rather wider and deeper in conducting a research, managing a library of books and data, and collating the synthesised information for further analysis. The cutting edge technology eradicates many learning barriers and facilitates both teachers and students in the whole process.   

Digital era: Win-win situation for both teachers and students

Digital technology, with its many tentacles of communication hacking and information sharing, has breathed fresh life into classroom learning. Usage of digital boards and multimedia content leads to increased attention and engagement of the students and better interaction between teachers and students. Learning has become more interesting and animated for pupils, while on the other hand, teachers also feel less burdened with the easy availability of quality content on the internet.

Use of social media for learning:

Things become further easier on both ends after the introduction of social media in the field of education. Now, teachers can upload the text as well as AV files pertaining to their lesson plan on various social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. As per the convenience, students can read the same on laptop, smart-phone or tab, or they can also take the printout of the shared notes as per their need. This way, lesson planning is no more a tiring and dull practice for the subject teachers.

Teachers can also create professional learning networks on the aforesaid channels for projects, dissertations and other types of research work. Social media is equally advantageous to students if used in a controlled manner under the guidance of parents and teachers.

Digital technology helps students in the collection, exchange and evaluation of the information (course material). It instigates them to explore the practical aspects of learning and how it is going to benefit them in the career they want to pursue.   

Authored by Prof. Ramola Kumar, Dean, Delhi School of Communication  

Source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/digital-learning/1/738780.html%C2%A0Regards%C2%A0PralhadJadhavSeniorManager

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NOW THE REAL THING

• Shashi Shekhar Vempati | Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) | 21 Aug 2016
• Shashi Shekhar Vempati, a digital strategist and a commentator on politics and public policy, is on the board of Prasar B harat The views expressed are persona

MAKE IN INDIA, SKILL INDIA, AND DIGITAL INDIA WILL BE IMPACTED BY THE ADVANCES IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MAKING IT IMPERATIVE FOR POLICYMAKERS TO TAKE COGNIZANCE OF THIS

In the not too distant future the smartphone of a farmer in India will not only track the weather forecasts but perhaps advise him on the next best action to take if the weather turns inclement. It might even go a step ahead and help him make a decision on locking up the best future price for his produce. A smart fishing app will learn from the past performance of fishing trips on the high seas to guide Indian fishermen on improving their catch while an intelligent learning app will coach Indian students to cope better in competitive examinations. A clever tax collection app will help the government detect sophisticated methods of tax evasion while a subsidy app will better target benefits to those who need them the most, helping plug leakages. All of these have a chance of becoming a reality in the next decade, given the recent advances in artificial intelligence if only we in India wake up and get our act right.
From SIRI in iphones and IPADS to Cortana in your Microsoft Windows 10 devices, artificial intelligence has made inroads into our everyday lives in a subtle but significant manner. Every time the intelligence keyboard in your smartphone makes a clever prediction on what you will type next it is artificial intelligence at work, learning from your past sentences and improving its predictive abilities along the way.
Policymakers in India cannot afford to make the same mistakes with artificial intelligence, given the breadth and depth of its impact on the economy in general and on national security in particular. Outlining the challenges and opportunities of an artificial intelligence-led future, the recent paper by Carnegie India titled “India and Artificial Intelligence Revolution” delves at length into the policy roadmap for India to prepare itself for impending change. Specifically, the paper outlines the impact of artificial intelligence-led automation in a range of sectors, leading to challenges in job creation. It calls for a radical rethink of the new education policy to prepare our youth with skills of the future to survive and thrive in an artificial intelligence-led economy. It also calls for an innovation-led free market environment in which new business models that are durable and viable can emerge. It also warns that India runs the risk of falling behind the United States and China in harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to its strategic advantage.

Every one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship initiatives — Make in India, Skill India, Digital India — will be impacted by the recent advances in artificial intelligence, making it imperative for Indian policymakers to take both an immediate and a long-term view. The National Education Policy must make radical recommendations on alternative models of education that would be better suited to an artificial intelligencepowered economy. The government should identify public-sector applications like detecting tax fraud, preventing subsidy leakage, and targeting beneficiaries, where current advances in artificial intelligence could make a significant impact.
India must view machine intelligence as a critical element of its national security strategy and evaluate the Pentagon’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) model of defence research with the collaboration of the private sector and universities in order to create dualpurpose technologies with a scope large enough to allow for developing civilian technology applications. Specifically, the Cyber Grand Challenge model of DARPA needs to be examined for its successful incentivisation of academia and the private sector. The proposed National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) platform, which would link citizen databases, might be a good pilot candidate for creating a machine intelligence-based platform with both national security and civilian benefits and should thus be taken up in mission mode.
Indians of many hues — consumers, technocrats, researchers and entrepreneurs — are already participating in this revolution with many of Indian origin driving and influencing research in the United States and elsewhere.
A clarion call from the prime minister to all of them to come together and help build an artificial intelligence ecosystem in India will go a long way to not merely catch up with but to take a quantum leap into the artificial intelligence-driven future.
Source: http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Second-hand books have few takers in the city

Second-hand books have few takers in the city    Srishti Shinde | Aug 23 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai) For most of us, petrichor is some thing that sets the mood -for love, passion and excitement.But for book lovers, it's biblichor that defines ultimate rejuvenation. That feeling when you enter an old book store or a library, is so satisfying and can't be replaced with anything. However, as kindles with daylight and night vision modes have occupied permanent places in our bags and the few books that we read are usually ordered online, most bibliophiles in the city yearn for that long lost smell of old books, as second-hand booksellers are slowly disappearing from the scene. From hundreds of them on the streets of Mumbai about a decade ago, to only a handful now. Are we going to see enough of them in the l future, is actually a question we t should ask ourselves. TECHNOLOGY TO BE BLAMED Bandra-based Naseer Shaikh, who owned one of the oldest second-hand bookstores in the city , moved to Vashi s five years ago, due to inflation. “The t rent was increasing manifold and it was getting difficult to maintain the store in Bandra, with everything from t electricity bills to employees' salaries going over budget. Vashi has comparatively lower rates, when it comes to real estate prices. Frankly , the secondhand book business is not affected due to online sales or kindles, it is the lifestyle that has negatively impacted the sale of books in general. These days, people spend more time looking into their phone screens, rather than reading. Be it social networking sites, WhatsApp or games, people today pick up their phones more than books,“ says Naseer, whose family has been in this business for the past 35 years now. He does have some loyal customers, who still prefer reading books, but they are not as many . When asked about the most favourite book among people, he quips, “Harry Potter is a hit among kids and even teenagers, while grown-ups prefer a Sidney Sheldon or Chetan Bhagat. In fact, classics like Lolita do not deserve to be kept at book stores, as readers are unable to respect literature of this calibre.“ BOOKS COME CHEAPER ONLINE While most authors are releasing their books online, it has become easier for people to avail exclusive books, at throwaway prices and that too, even before they are released. “This is one of the reasons why people opt to buy books online. The fact that most people like to keep the books they buy as a part of their library , it is getting more and more difficult to source them.There are hardly any people who come over to give away their novels, which is why the we do not have a lot of options when it comes to second-hand editions, especially the new releases,“ says Rituraaj Manek, a book seller in Cuffe Parade. He also mentions that the maximum time it takes for new books to come to the second-hand market is three months. In fact, there are several discounts on books when bought online, which is a stronger reason why most people don't even consider branded bookstores, let alone second-hand dealers. PEOPLE DON'T READ ANYMORE The habit of reading is slowly dying. “I remember my mom would make me read at least one book a month, when I was in school. In fact, I had a vast collection of Panchatantras and various fairy tales that she would source, so that I develop the habit of reading. In fact, I would also make frequent visits to a nearby library to read Hardy Boys, while I was a teen. However, I don't see kids read anymore,“ says Rachika Nagar, a teacher by profession. Look around, as it is difficult to find people reading; they are either busy looking at other people's lives on social networking sites and gossiping about them, or worrying about their problems. “The fact that people don't read anymore is why second-hand book sellers have a tough time selling books.Ask someone what did they read last and they will have to ponder for a while before they answer,“ says Mayank Patkar, a second-hand book seller from Andheri. WEBSITES HAVE ALSO ENCROACHED THE MARKET There are about nine different websites that deal in second-hand books.They are extremely convenient, and sell books at almost the same price as roadside book sellers in the city . From novels to children's titles as well as general management and academic books, they have everything in store. In fact, some of them also follow a slightly different concept, wherein they act as a lending library, where you can rent a book. They have various subscriptions plans -monthly and yearly . They follow the same pattern that second-hand book dealers do, wherein you can return the book after reading it and order another set, depending on the plan you have taken.The best part about these websites is that they have a `Cash on delivery' option and deliver books to your doorstep, free of cost.  

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, August 22, 2016 | UPDATED 11:19 IST

CBSE NEET UG 2016: Counselling registration begins today at mcc.nic.in

The CBSE NEET online counselling for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG has started from today, August 22.

 

CBSE NEET UG 2016

The CBSE NEET online counselling for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG has started from today, August 22.
Al the candidates seeking admission are requested to log on to the official website, www.mcc.nic.in  .
Earlier, CBSE had conducted National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2016 in two phases; first phase (AIPMT) on May 1 and NEET Phase 2 on July 24.
As per official data, around 7, 31,223 candidates had appeared for the examination and around 56 percent students successfully cleared the test as the results were announced on August 16.
As per the Supreme Court's order, this year, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has constituted a Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for allotment of 15 percent All India quota MBBS and BDS seats through centralised counselling.
All the candidates are requested to note that they would be able to exercise the choice filling up to 5 pm of August 25, 2016.
Moreover, the counselling session would be done in two rounds and the seats will be allotted to aspirants through the central quota in the first phase, while in the second phase, through state quota.
The two-phased counselling will be held in Uttar Pradesh (UP) because the Akhilesh Yadav government adopted NEET in state medical colleges unlike many states.

How can you appear for the online counselling?
In order to lock the seats, all the candidates need to follow the below mentioned steps:

• Log on to the website, www.mcc.nic.in

• Click on the tab, 'Candidates Login'

• Enter all the required details such as roll number and password

• Click to log in

• Also, candidates can check the seat matrix and counselling scheme on the official website

Important dates:

• Exercising of choices and locking: August 26 (up to 5 pm)

• Process of seat allotment (Round 1): August 27

• Declaration of result (Round 1): August 28

• Reporting at the allotted medical/dental college against Round 1: August 29 to September 3

• Exercising of choices and locking (Round 2): September 9 to September 10

• Process of seat allotment (Round 2): September 11

• Declaration of results (Round 2): September 12

• Reporting at the allotted medical/dental college against Round 2: September 13 to September 20

• Transfer of vacant seats to state quota: September 20

Important note:  If any student fails to do so, the last choices filled by him/her would be automatically locked.
For any query related to counselling, candidates can log on to the official website.

Schools warn parents about the dangers of chasing Pokemons

Story from page 1 - NAVI MUMBAI, dnaofmumbai        

Ankita G Menon ankita.g@dnaindia.net

Vashi: Pokemon Go is an augmented virtual reality game, based on the cartoon series Pokemon — a craze among 90s kids. Teenagers and youngsters are getting addicted to this game and as it involves moving around empty places, it has proved to be fatal. The fervour for this game has led to advertisements on Facebook about various pokewalks to be organised in the city. Individuals have been coming together in groups to search for pokemons. Some students have even been downloading the old Cartoon Network series or watching it online to renew knowledge about the game. While the craze for the gaming app motivates the youngsters to catch more Pokemon or locate yet another Poke stop, the alert city parents and schools are educating their children to play the game in a responsible manner. “My son just gets up and leaves, all the while staring at his smart phone to search for a Pokemon. And as road accidents have increased, my husband keeps telling him to play the game in a responsible manner. We only allow our son to play the game in our neighbourhood where traffic is less. We also ensure that when he plays the game, his friends are around to keep an eye on him,” said Juhi Mukherjee, a banker and mother of a 19-year old teenager. “We do not want to give it undue attention but we also want students to know there could be a problem if they get addicted to the game. Teachers in my school have been talking about it in morning assemblies and have told parents to speak to their children about it’s hazards,” said Jessy Jose, principal, Tilak International School. Those who are addicted to this exciting game, refuse to give up. But many of them have decided to take precautions too. Varun Jha, 15, who’s a fan of the game, said, “Increase in freak mishaps involving Pokemon Go is the result of irresponsibility and not the fault of the gaming app. The app clearly cautions the players to stay away from dangerous zones and play the game in safe enclosed areas. One has to pay heed.” Some Shiv Sena members have opposed this game in India and are requesting schools or the education department to warn students, “Until one moves, the game does not begin and therefore while moving from one place to another we find people are completely lost playing the game. They never bother to check as well what is there ahead of them on the road. It is important that school students be informed about what can happen while one is playing the game without being aware of the surroundings. It can happen that students may go out playing the game at night as well, which can be further unsafe. Ideally this should be done in all schools in the city but we must at least begin with municipal schools,” said one of the Shiv Sena candidates.

Published Date:  Aug 18, 2016

to create awareness about the Indian armed forces with a thrilling game format

App-titude for change!

Awarathon’s Unknown Soldier Campaign aims to create awareness about the Indian armed forces with a thrilling game format

Deepali Singh | Story from page 4 - AFTER HRS, dnaofmumbai

What is the highest officer rank in the Indian Navy?’, my phone screen reads and I can see the seconds ticking by as I struggle to think of the correct answer. I’m pretty sure it’s ‘Admiral of the fleet’ and holding my breath, I tap on the option with my finger. ‘Correct answer’, it reads now and I exhale. The one rupee added in my Reward Wallet doubles the joy, not just because I’m a rupee richer but because I know that my expanding wallet is going to make a difference in somebody’s life. And that’s what Awarathon is all about! Ever since the social awareness app that combines the thrill of gaming launched on it’s Unknown Soldier Campaign this Independence Day, more than 50,000 questions have been answered on the Indian Armed Forces. The brainchild of Harvard Law School graduates Harshal Shah and Bhargavi Zaveri, who were supported in their endeavour by Rahul Ghatalia, Awarathon aims to create a platform for social awareness, but with the added fun element of gaming. The first campaign Shah tells us that the idea for the first campaign came to him when he happened to attend a friend’s brother’s funeral. “Her brother was in the armed forces and had died a martyr. That’s when it struck me how little we know about our own armed forces. Since we were at that time trying to decide which campaign to begin with, we zeroed down on the Unknown Soldier Campaign to make people more aware of the various aspects of our Indian armed forces, including the various wars we have fought and the ranks among others,” says the 31-year-old. The challenge, says Shah, was to keep it informative, yet, entertaining at the same time. “It’s a game after all. The idea is to get people addicted to it, so they keep learning more and more,” he states, adding that a bank of over 5,000 questions was created especially for this campaign. Along with the game, the makers of the app will also keep posting videos of interviews with war veterans on their social media accounts to add a human touch to the campaign. Play it on! Once the app has been downloaded on your phone, a series of questions on the Indian armed forces follow. A 20-second timer starts and if you answer correctly, the app adds a rupee to your Reward Wallet. At constant intervals, the app asks you to either redeem the prize money for a gift card or donate it to a cause. “We are supporting three causes for this particular campaign. The first is supporting the disabled veterans of the Indian armed forces, especially those who don’t come under the government of India’s programme. The second is an early intervention for differently-abled children, while the third one is four differently-abled cases who are in desperate need of physiotherapy,” Shah informs of the campaign that ends on September 1. Taking it ahead While the makers are more than the happy with the kind of response it has generated, they hope that people will be as excited about their next campaign too, which is Swachh Bharat. “Urban cities in India face a huge waste management problem and the next campaign that launches on October 2, aims to make people aware of the problems we might face in the future because of that. The campaign will also provide users with knowledge on how to make a difference on a micro as well as a macro level,” says Shah.

Published Date:  Aug 21, 2016

Source : http://epaper.dnaindia.com

Free access for Indians to library of cricket books

By PTI


NEW DELHI: A one-year free digital access to Indian and world cricket content is being offered in a collaboration between Bloomsbury, Wisden, and UK-based Public Library Online.

"Under the initiative, all citizens with an Indian IP address will have free access for a year to a library of cricket books at Public Library Online from Wisden, the most distinguished cricket publisher in the world," Bloomsbury Publishing said in a statement today.

The library includes all four Wisden India Almanacks, the last five 'Wisden Shorter Almanacks', the 'Wisden Book of Test Cricket 2009-14', 'Wisden on the Ashes', 'Benaud in Wisden' and 'Don'ts for Cricketers.'

These are available for online streaming on any Internet-enabled device at Public Library Online through the url in.publiclibraryonline.com. The library is an 'online only' Ebooks licensing company with books from leading international publishing houses and offers concurrent online access to a range of fiction and non-fiction, from a range of renowned publishers.

The initiative is being launched to coincide with the 4th test match of India-West Indies series on the 18th of August 2016.

Jahir Hussain, CEO of Public Library Online said, "We are excited to offer public library online eBooks to the entire Indian Public. We feel proud to be part of the 'Digital India' chapters."

"The Wisden archives are an unparalleled resource, for curious readers and cricket buffs alike. For well over a century, Wisden has been one of cricket's conscience-keepers

and the Almanack's essays have chronicled the sweeping, almost cataclysmic, changes the game has seen," Dileep Premachandran, Editor-in-chief of Wisden India said.

"Public Library Online has now taken an important first step in opening up this treasure trove to readers, in a country where cricket is so much more than just a game," he said.

(Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/cricket/news/Free-access-for-Indians-to-library-of-cricket-books/2016/08/18/article3585817.ece)

CBSE to scale down difficulty level of Class 12 mathematics paper

• Puja Pednekar, Hindustan Times, Mumbai| 

CBSE said it will scale down the difficulty level of the Class 12 Mathematics question paper next year after an unusually-tough exam drove millions of students to tears this year and hurt their scores. (HT File Photo)

---

Anxious class 12 students and their parents can breathe a little easy.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said it will scale down the difficulty level of the class 12 mathematics question paper next year after an unusually tough exam drove millions of students to tears and hurt their scores.
The board announced on Wednesday evening a revamp of the paper’s pattern, introducing short-answer type questions carrying two marks and reducing the number of controversial higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) questions.
The HOTS questions will now carry only 10 marks and will be split into two sections of four and six marks. Students will also be given more choice.
Teachers welcomed the move, saying the tough HOTS questions were responsible for raising the difficulty level of the paper this year as they carried substantial weightage.
“HOTS questions are tricky and for the past two years, they have been exceptionally tough. It is good that they will be restricted to only 10% now,” a maths teacher at a school in Mumbai’s Santacruz said.
The short-answer type questions will make the paper easier, teachers said. This is the first time that the board has brought in two-mark questions
“Shorter questions require less time to solve and will help students in completing the paper on time,” the teacher said.

The CBSE categorised 20% of the paper as easy, 60% as average and 20% as difficult.
Students depend on their maths scores to boost their grades in the class 12 examination, which is crucial for college entrances where cut-offs regularly touch 98-99%.

NEW PATTERN

• 4 questions of one mark each (Total: 4 marks)
• 8 questions of two marks each (Total: 16 marks)
• 11 questions of four marks each (Total: 44 marks)
• 6 questions of 6 marks each (Total: 36 marks)

PREVIOUS PATTERN

• 6 questions of one mark each (Total: 6 marks)
• 13 questions of four marks each (Total: 52 marks)
• 7 questions for six marks each (Total: 42 marks)

But this year, many were unable to finish the tough and lengthy maths paper that, students said, was responsible for lower scores.
The CBSE was flooded with complaints about the daunting March 14 examination and an alleged question paper leak in the Patna region. It even triggered a debate in Parliament, with the government promising an inquiry into the reported leak and complaints that questions were extremely difficult.
Following this, the board held meetings with schools and teachers seeking suggestions to change the paper pattern. It constituted an expert committee to come up with remedial measures to look into the issue and officials said students were marked leniently.
Teachers admitted that marks in mathematics had affected the overall percentage of students. Commerce and science stream students were hit the most. At Apeejay School in Mumbai’s Kharghar, for example, the average score in maths fell to 78% from 87% last year.

(Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/education/cbse-to-scale-down-difficulty-level-of-class-12-mathematics-paper/story-xGSCNhfIRlS8pX7VoGgGHK.html)

• Updated: Aug 11, 2016 20:32 IST