CBSE paper leak: Delhi HC dismisses plea to change date of class 12th economics exam

By PTI  |   Published: 16th April 2018 06:24 PM  |  

 

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today dismissed a plea seeking rescheduling of the re-examination of the class 12th economics paper, which the CBSE has decided to conduct on April 25 following an alleged leak.

The court also asked the CBSE to place before it the records relating to the board's decision not to conduct the re-examination of class 10th mathematics examination, which also was allegedly leaked, after a plea seeking a re-test came up.

The bench asked the CBSE advocate to find out the reasons for the decision for not reconducting the examination and listed the plea filed by a student for April 20.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar rejected the plea filed by an NGO, Suniye, seeking to either change the date of re-examination of class 12th exam or make it optional on the ground that the decided date was close to some entrance examinations, including National Defence Academy (NDA) and engineering.

The court said it was the CBSE's decision to reconduct the exam and was outside its purview.

The bench said a judicial notice has been taken of the fact that there can be no date fixed to the satisfaction of all and rescheduling of the re-test was beyond the jurisdiction of the court.

"Whether to hold an exam or not, it is up to the CBSE. It is not up to the court to decide. It is outside our purview. As you are saying NDA exam is clashing. If they again change the date, somebody else will come. On what basis a court can say hold the exam on this day and not on that day. It will be anarchy," the court said.

During the hearing, the court was informed by CBSE advocate Amit Bansal that it has issued a notification that class 10th maths examination will not be reconducted as they cannot afford to hold it again and make over 16 lakh students appear in it.

The board also opposed the intervention application of the NGO saying it has considered all the aspects before scheduling the class 12th economics exam on April 25 and due care was taken while selecting the date.

The court was hearing a PIL, in which NGO Social Jurist had sought that CBSE be directed to hold the class 10 exam in April, if required, and not in July as it had proposed earlier.

It disposed of the PIL after NGO's counsel Ashok Agarwal said he was satisfied with the board's decision of not holding the re-examination for the class 10th paper.

The CBSE, in its affidavit, had earlier said it had decided not to hold re-examination of class 10 Maths test as a scientific evaluation of random answer sheets did not indicate any unusual pattern to believe that there was a widespread benefit of the alleged paper leak.

It had said it was not conducting the re-test for another reason that class 10 was a gateway to class 11 and therefore "remains largely an internal segment of school education system".

The NGO had also sought a court-monitored probe into the recent leak of the Maths and Economics question papers of class 10 and 12 respectively.

Source : http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/apr/16/cbse-paper-leak-delhi-hc-dismisses-plea-to-change-date-of-class-12th-economics-exam-1802307.html

SSC English text blends lessons with life skills

Vinamrata.Borwankar@timesgroup.com

 

Mumbai: For SSC students, studying the English language has largely meant familiarizing themselves with passages and pieces from the classics — the works of William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw are par for the course. But the new text for Class X has been touted as an attempt to merge the old school with innovations that place language in a more contemporary setting. From life lessons shared by Olympian Mary Kom and physicist Stephen Hawking to the how-to of filling up an online form or writing a blog, the content varies.

Members of the state textbook committee said the idea was to combine academic learning with instilling life skills. “When we started building the textbook, we had in mind the guidelines of the National Curriculum Framework which speak about equipping students with three important life skills —social, thinking and emotional. The textbook takes a communicative approach and emphasizes on critical thinking. There is a lot of activity that we have added to the text to help students learn as they do,” said Akhil Bhosale, member of the English language study group.

So while the bulk of the Kumarbharti textbook continues to be rich in prose and text from authors worldwide, it manages to introduce chapters on more current themes and personalities that students can relate to, such as former president APJ Abdul Kalam or the co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs; a first-person account by Jobs is among the chapters. A teacher said the idea was to stir the curiosity of those who lack the reading habit. “The chapters on people they have already heard about create a sense of interest and betters their understanding. Those who are interested in a career in English, may make an effort at extra reading.” The English Coursebook, which is part of the subject, also introduces students to more activitybased learning such as writing book reviews, filling up online forms, conducting interviews or hosting a blog. “These activities are based on the concept of Live English which aims to equip all students for day-to-day situations. If they have to call a help centre, they must know how and what to say to the person or they must be able to send a formal email,” said Bhosale.

Revisions in the SSC text are aimed at bridging the gap in learning outcomes between the state board and the rest. Compared to institutions affiliated to the SSC board, CBSE-affiliated schools use texts created by NCERT, while others such as CISCE and international boards prescribe a curriculum. Schools are allowed to pick their choice of publishers or use their resources to teach. “If a teacher feels a particular author’s work can explain a concept better, they pick that. The teachers also design activities that suit their class best. We, however, understand that this might not be possible for schools with a larger number of students,” said Sharonee Mullick, director, Singapore International School.

Source : https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/#

Sun Apr 15 2018

No moderation of marks this year, says CBSE

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Unless a marked difference is noticed in the Class XII CBSE Board exam results compared to previous years’, there will be no moderation of marks this year. The main reason for introducing a single set of question papers for the exams, which was criticised after question papers were leaked, was to reduce the need for moderation of marks post evaluation.

While a majority of the education boards, including the CBSE, has in principle agreed against “bunching” and “spiking” of marks for the 2018 Board exams, the CBSE also expects that the moderation, if any, will be minimal. “As part of examination reforms, the Board last year decided to do away with moderation,” a CBSE source said. “It was decided a single set question paper ensures a standardised difficulty level.”

Majority of the state education boards with single set question papers won’t need to moderate marks as well. However, in case of major differences from that of previous years, the boards have to look at moderation of marks.

“In case of a major ambiguity, the committee will have to work out a policy. So we can’t say there will be no moderation at all, but the level will be much lower, if needed at all,” a CBSE official said.

The HRD ministry in October 2017 asked all the state Boards to avoid the practice of artificial inflation of marks.

In response, 23 states and UTs have assured the board that except in case of ambiguities, they will not inflate marks. The states are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Daman & Diu & Puducherry.

Source : https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/#

• 13 Apr 2018 | Mumbai
• HT Correspondent htmetro@hindustantimes.com

JEE-Main question paper: Institute writes to HRD ministry, seeks probe

MUMBAI: Days after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) refuted allegations that a few questions in the recently held Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main were taken from a mock question paper set by a coaching institute, students are still writing to the CBSE to reconsider their complaints. 

Moreover, a coaching institute from Mumbai too has written to Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), seeking intervention in this matter. 

“It’s a matter of the lives of lakhs of students across the country who work hard to prepare for JEE. We are not trying to blame this on any one individual or institution, but close to nine questions in JEE-Main were similar to the ones from a 2016 mock test conducted by a coaching institute in Andhra Pradesh,” said Vinay Kumar, MD and CEO of Rao Academy, a coaching institute. 

Earlier this week, students pointed out that nine questions from the Physics section of the JEE-Main written examination that was held on April 8 were similar to the questions that had appeared in a mock test conducted by Narayana Academy. Several students wrote to CBSE, asking it to probe the allegations. 

“Subject experts put together 1,500 questions in two months. All are original and handwritten. After that, 90 questions are drawn randomly and eight to nine sets are prepared. Any one set is randomly picked for the exam on the final day,” said a CBSE spokesperson, denying claims of similarity between the two papers. 

Source : http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

JEE Main 2018 answer keys, cut-off and result dates; check here

JEE Main 2018 answer keys are expected to be out on April 24 while the results will be released in April-end

By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: April 9, 2018 5:29:19 pm

This year, nearly 10.43 lakh aspirants in 112 cities in India and abroad appeared for the exam. (File photo) Related News

 

JEE Main 2018: CBSE conducted JEE Main 2018 on Sunday and the answer keys are expected to release by April 24. This year, nearly 10.43 lakh aspirants in 112 cities in India and abroad appeared for the exam. Every year, both offline and online exams are conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 104 cities across 1,613 centres across the country and in eight centres in as many countries abroad. Meanwhile, many coaching centres and training institutes such as Aakash, FITJEE etc, have released their own answer keys for the offline paper.

This year, many students faced difficulties in solving mathematics and physics papers. A majority complained that Physics paper was tough while Maths paper was lengthy. The exam was considered to be moderate, with difficulty level similar to the last two years.

JEE Main 2018 result date

As per the official website, the score and rank of paper-I of JEE (Main) will be declared by April 30. This score shall comprise the actual marks obtained in paper-I of JEE (Main) – 2018 along with the status of those who qualify for appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2018.

JEE Main 2018: Expected cut-off

Experts have predicted that the cut-off for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2018 will be between 95 to 105 this year. Prof Uday Nath Mishra of BasicFirst, however, expects the cut off to go round within 80 to 90. “Expected cut off is 80(+-5%) marks out of 360. The paper was moderate and based on NCERT. Chemistry was the most lengthy. Organic chemistry was found more difficult, physical chemistry was more numerical based, whereas, inorganic chemistry was easy. Maths was mostly based on class 12 syllabus and physics was based on class 11 syllabus”.
Last year, the JEE main cut-off was pegged at 81, while the cut-offs for the OBC, SC and ST categories was at 49, 32 and 27 respectively.

Source : http://indianexpress.com/article/education/jee-main-2018-answer-keys-cut-off-and-result-date-check-here-5129979/
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JEE Mains 2018: Detailed analysis by experts

JEE Mains 2018 analysis: Experts who have analysed the paper found that it had a moderate difficulty level. However, the Physics was the toughest among the three this year

Written by Arnab Mitra | New Delhi | Updated: April 9, 2018 10:30:00 am

JEE Mains 2018 paper analysis: Experts who have analysed the paper found that it had a moderate difficulty level JEE Mains 2018 paper analysis: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted the Indian Institutes of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT JEE) main exam on Sunday, April 8, 2017.  As per experts, Paper I difficulty level was moderate, however, students have found Physics section tricky and tough and Maths paper lenghty.
The pattern followed this year was quite similar that of the last two years’ papers. This year, close to 11 lakh candidates have appeared for the examinations, as per reports. Out of which, only 2.24 lakh students will be eligible for appearing in the JEE Advanced 2018 exam which is scheduled on the May 20. The answer keys will be uploaded on the official website, jeemain.nic.in, from April 24 to April 27, 2018.

JEE Mains 2018 paper analysis: Experts reactions

While some experts believe that the overall difficulty level was moderate, some find few questions tricky. Here are analysis from top coaching institutes.

Aakash Institute
Overall, the JEE Main 2018 was slightly on the difficult side. A few questions in the paper were straightforward and could be solved by a student who has been preparing sincerely for the exam. But a large numbers of questions required lengthy solutions. A few questions were difficult which will play crucial role to get top scores.

In all the three subjects, 5-6 questions were framed quite differently. However, there was no ambiguous question in the paper this year.

In Physics paper, overall questions were slightly on the difficult side compared to last year. By and large, paper was on the expected lines with few elements of surprise. Almost all the topics were covered as prescribed by CBSE for JEE Main.

The Mathematics paper overall was slightly on the difficult side. There were seven to eight lengthy questions, but a few questions were straightforward as well. Questions were asked from all chapters. Questions asked were conceptual and nearer to the JEE Advanced paper in terms of tricks and approach. Students whose study was confined to NCERT and related text books would find it difficult. Equal weightage was given to Class 11 and 12 syllabus.

In Chemistry, almost equal weightage of Physical, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry was there. Paper has average difficulty level. No question was asked from the topics of Structure of atom, d & f-block, Aldehyde Ketone, s-block, Polymer & Surface Chemistry. Overall paper was balanced and mixture of conceptual and numerical questions.

Rajshekhar Ratrey, VP Educational Content, Toppr.com

“In terms of difficulty level, this year’s paper was similar to the last two years’ papers. The paper was moderately easy. A student should not have had much trouble completing the paper as well. They found similarities between the weightage of marks in this paper, and the 12th standard syllabus. The JEE Main cut off should fall between 95 and 105.

Physics

Surprisingly, Physics was the toughest paper among the three. The questions were a mix of theory based and calculation. This section was not lengthy. There were 17 questions from 12th standard syllabus and 13 questions from 11th standard syllabus. This section had 4 difficult questions, 20 moderate questions and 6 easy questions. Initial assessment fond that none of the options of Q.6 of set B were correct. The question was based on Pulley where minimum mass was to be ascertained.

Chemistry

Chemistry was the moderately easy among the three. This section was lengthy in comparison to the other sections. There were 14 questions asked from 12th standard syllabus and 16 questions from 11th standard syllabus. This section had 3 difficult questions, 17 moderate questions, and 10 easy questions. Initial assessment suspects students may find 2 options of Q.63 of Set B could to be correct. However, we think the answer should be option 1. This was a question from Alcohol phenol and ether, on a reaction of Phenol.

Mathematics

Surprisingly, Mathematics was the easiest paper amongst the three. Most questions were calculative. There were 10 questions asked from 12th standard syllabus and 20 questions from 11th standard syllabus. This section had 3 difficult questions, 14 moderate questions and 13 easy questions.”

Prof Uday Nath Mishra, Chief Academic Officer, BasicFirst

“Expected cut off is 80(+-5%) marks out of 360. The paper was moderate and based on NCERT. Chemistry was the most lengthy. Organic chemistry was found more difficult, Physical chemistry was more numerical based, whereas, Inorganic chemistry was easy. Maths was mostly based on class 12 syllabus and was more formula based. Maximum questions were from Calculus. Physics was based on class 11th syllabus and greater portion of Mechanics & Electrostatics was covered.”
As per BASE institute, Physics was difficult in the overall comparison. It was lenghty as well. Four questions are modified version of those that appeared in the previous years JEE Advanced. This time, equal weightage has been given to first and second year topics

Mr Ajay Antony, National Course director JEE Exam, T.I.M.E

The JEE Main off-line Examination of 2018 was held on 8th April. It was a 3 hour paper, which started at 9:30am. The test paper had 90 questions for 360 marks. There were 3 parts in the question paper consisting of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The order of subjects were different in different versions of the booklets. The options given for the questions were also shuffled in various versions.

Each subject carried 30 questions. All questions were objective in nature with 4 choices and there was only one correct response. Each question carried 4 marks for the correct response and -1 for wrong response. All questions were ‘Single Correct Multiple Choice’ type.

Physics and Chemistry questions were relatively easy in JEE Main 2018. The questions in Mathematics required lengthy calculations in solving them. Hence, many students rated Mathematics section as ‘tough’.

Source : http://indianexpress.com/article/education/jee-mains-2018-analysis-difficulty-level-moderate-physics-tough/

Wrong questions, more than 1 right answer fox JEE students

Mumbai: The 2018 edition of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) was an easy paper as compared to many in the past. But what left students puzzled were wrong questions in the physics section and other questions which had more than one correct answer.

A total of 10.43 lakh candidates took the exam in 112 cities in 1,621 centres. While 6.5 lakh were boys, 2.7 lakh were girls and three transgenders. Students also appeared for the exam in eight cities abroad.

Most students said the exam was simple, with physics being the toughest and maths being time-consuming. Praveen Tyagi MD of Pace IIT & Medical, said, “In physics, two questions were ambiguous.” Other faculty said chemistry had one question with two correct answers.

In physics, there were 17 questions from class 12 syllabus and 13 from the 11th standard syllabus. “This section had four difficult questions, 20 moderate questions and six easy ones. Initial assessment suggests none of the options of Q6 set B was correct,” said Rajshekhar Ratrey, VP Educational Content, Toppr.com.

In chemistry, experts said there were three difficult questions, 17 moderate and 10 easy ones. Students said there were two correct options in a question on alcohol phenol. Another question on Lewis acid could also have two correct answers, they said.

There were 30 questions each in maths, physics and chemistry with marking scheme of four marks for right answer and for each incorrect response, one-fourth of the total marks allotted to the question would be deducted from the total score.

“The paper is balanced and is set from CBSE syllabus of Std XI and XII. But, as expected, many of the questions were conceptual with some needing analytical skills,” said R L Trikha, director FIITJEE.

Dilip Vaidya, director academics of ICAD, said, “Unlike last year, physics seems to be very lengthy due to involved calculations. It had only couple of questions which required no calculation. Many questions had very close options or close-range options, which required very precise calculation. This made physics further difficult. Only those with high numerical ability will survive in this part.”

Experts at coaching classes pegged the cut-off around 80 of 360. Cut-off for common merit list in 2015, 2016 and2017 was 105,100 ,81respectively. TNN

Source : https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/#

CBSE paper leak: CBSE won’t go for Class X maths re-test

TNN | Updated: Apr 4, 2018, 08:34 IST

 

CBSE said internal inquiries and analysis based on inputs from the ongoing police probe indicate that the alleged paper leak might be confined to a few beneficiaries

 

 

NEW DELHI: Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday decided not to hold re-examination for the Class X mathematics paper whose question paper had been leaked earlier. This decision holds good even for candidates in NCR and Haryana, the two regions where the leak allegedly took place. The central government has constituted a high-powered committee to examine the process of conducting the CBSE exams and suggest measures to make it secure.
On Monday, TOI had reported that the Union human resource development ministry and CBSE were of the view that the leak would not significantly impact the examination and the overall result, so there would be no retest.

Anil Swarup, MHRD secretary (school education), tweeted: “Consequent to the preliminary evaluation of the impact of reportedly leaked CBSE Class X maths paper and keeping in mind the paramount interest of students, CBSE has decided not to conduct re-examination even in the states of Delhi, NCR and Haryana.”

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Swarup added that the government has constituted a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of ex-secretary, MHRD, VS Oberoi “to examine the process of conducting CBSE exams and suggest measures to make it secure and foolproof through the use of technology. Report to be submitted by May 31.”

A statement issued by CBSE said, “Class X examination is essentially a gateway for Class XI. It, thus, remains largely an internal segment of school education system. It is therefore felt that the Board must address the primary concern of a large section of the students. Keeping in mind the paramount interest of students, the Board has taken the decision to not hold re-examination of Class X maths paper even in Delhi NCR and Haryana…” 

 

Source : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/cbse-wont-go-for-class-x-maths-re-test/articleshow/63602459.cms

CBSE Class 12 Biology Paper Analysis 2018: Tricky questions asked but nothing out of NCERT syllabus

• IndiaToday.in | New Delhi | March 27, 2018 | Apoorva Anand

CBSE Class 12 Biology Paper Analysis 2018

 

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted the class 12 Biology board exam today, March 27.

Biology deals with the study of life and living organisms, including their physical structure, chemical composition, function, development, and evolution.

All the students who appeared for the Class 12 Biology Board Exam found the paper a bit tricky but all the questions were asked from NCERT textbook itself.

While speaking to India Today Education, students who had come to appear for the board examination at a Noida school said, "Except for 1-mark questions, the overall paper was easy."

No repeated questions:

Another student said, "The paper was easy but none of the last year questions were repeated in the examination."

Completed paper before time:

Meanwhile, many students said that they completed the paper 15 minutes before.

5-mark questions: Easy

Furthermore, in comparison to other sections of the paper, the 5-mark questions were very easy to solve.

Detailed analysis by board examiner:

In conversation with India Today Education, Piyali Chatterjee Sen, the Head Board examiner of Biology for six years, with 25 years of teaching experience said, "This year's paper is definitely difficult for the average and below average students unlike last year where the paper was totally predictable."

Nothing out of NCERT:

Further, the questions were from intricate corners of NCERT and eveything was asked from prescribed syllabus itself.
"Only NCERT is enough but thorough reading required," said Piyali Chatterjee Sen.

HOT questions:

In comparison to other sections, HOTS questions were more in number and partly tricky.

Indirect questions:

Moreover, the board examiner said that questions were rather indirect than really difficult.

Expected score:

Scoring 90 per cent to 100 per cent marks will be difficult, compared to other years. However, fail percentage should be less.
Easier value based questions:
Moreover, two and three marks questions were mixed bag types whereas value based four marks question was easier compared to other years.

Diagram based questions:

Since past two years, diagram based questions are not coming. "Diagrams are the basic essence of Biology," Piyali Chatterjee Sen added.

Paper pattern and marking scheme:

Total marks: 70 marks (5 sections)

Section A: 5 questions of 1 mark

Section B: 5 questions of 2 marks

Section C: 12 questions of 3 marks

Section D: 1 question for 4 marks (Value based question)

Section E: 3 questions for 5 marks (Choice based)

Further, there was no overall choice in the question paper, however, an internal choice was provided in one question of two marks, one question of three marks and all three questions of five marks.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/cbse-class-12-biology-paper-analysis-2018-1198728-2018-03-27

Beating the cheating: CBSE to introduce metal detectors at JEE-Mains exam centres to frisk students

• IndiaToday.in | New Delhi | March 25, 2018

The Central Board of Secondary Education has set up metal detectors for students appearing for the prestigious Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains, which will take place on April 8, 2018 all over India.

According to CBSE coordinator Balvinder Singh, the stringent system is introduced in order to prevent candidates from carrying electronic devices which are being used for cheating and wrong deeds.

What all will the metal detectors detect?

The bug or metal detectors provided for frisking should be able to detect any prohibited metallic or electronics devices, copper, aluminium, silver, wire, cell battery, watch battery, miniature electronic gadget or photovoltaic equipment, etc.
"The banned items include mobile phone, electronic watch and calculators," Balvinder said.
Earlier, several students have been found using Bluetooth devices in different examination centres across the country. Such electronic devices help candidates to stay connected with people outside the exam hall and seek answer for the questions.

Students must carry proper identification documents

CBSE has also directed examinees to carry their admit cards, Aadhar cards, passport or any other identification document in order to be allowed in the examination centres.
Over 1.3 million students have registered their names for JEE Mains 2018.
This is the first stage for gaining entrance to the top most engineering institutes in the country.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/beating-the-cheating-cbse-to-introduce-metal-detectors-at-jee-mains-exam-centres-to-frisk-students-1197600-2018-03-25