By Basabdatta Sarkar
KOLKATA: In an examination of several firsts, students who appeared for their Semester-I boards gave a thumbs up to all the changes.
An ISC examinee Srijani Mukherjee said, “I think this semester system is good for us as we are out of practice in giving offline exams for so long. So, when it was divided into two parts I thought the pressure would be lesser. I am happy with this new format.” Suparna Sen, another Class Xll student said, “It was tough for the previous batch as they had to cover the entire syllabus at one go. But for us it is easier as it is divided into two parts. We also get a second chance if we don’t do well in Semester-I. I felt this was a very well thought out decision.”
Students admitted they were nervous with the new format. Ranjaboti Chattopadhyay, a Class X student said, “This format is totally new for us. We didn’t have much time so initially we were a bit tense. But our teachers helped us out. For Semester-II we don’t have MCQ. In MCQ you will get marks only for the correct answer, but in the subjective format you can score more. I am all for the new format as it will prepare us for college.”
Kritika Samanta, Vivekananda Mission School’s ICSC topper said, “I think the Council’s decision to use the MCQ format and semester system is a good step as entrance exams have the MCQ format. But the main problem was lack of guidance. It was really hard to adapt. First, we thought the exams would be online, then they were postponed. I have the same concerns for Semester-II as the dates haven’t been announced yet. We need at least a month-and-a-half to prepare because the Semester-II syllabus is completely different. For me the hardest subject was physics. It was a good paper but a bit tough.”
Mohit Paul, a Class X examinee from Rammohan Mission School said, “We had no problem with the semester system. The MCQ questions were fairly simple. Despite the uncertainty, our school dealt with the challenges well and prepared us so that we would be ready to deal with both online and offline exams. I felt physics was the hardest while English, biology and chemistry were the easiest.”
Nitika Samanta of Class XII differed, “It was hard to adjust to an offline exam after years of online classes and tests. I found the MCQ questions a bit difficult because all the options were so similar. I don’t prefer the semester system as we have too little time to prepare for Semester-II exams.”
(With inputs by Aheli Banerjee)
