Even as students from Delhi and other parts of the country are demanding a of the CBSE mathematics board exam, tricity students from Class 12 have not made any such request. Calling it “tough” and “lengthy”, most of them felt that the questions were of a level higher than expected. However, they don’t think it calls for a retest.
While some said the questions on deteriorations and matrices were easier but unlike the board exam in 2015, students had to make equations before solving the same. Though questions were not out of syllabus, many were not from the NCERT textbook.
Muskaan Sharma, a student of Delhi Public School, Chandigarh, said, “I found the paper extremely lengthy and ended up leaving a four-mark question since I had no time. Also, some of the questions were quite tricky.” Another Class 12 student Radhika said the pattern of the question paper was surely complex.
Vandana Pandhi, a math teacher from Vivek High School, said, “The real issue was that the paper was lengthy than it was tough. For an average child, it might be tough to score a 100 but none of the questions were out of syllabus. There was a tricky four-mark question which perhaps left most kids baffled.”
For others, it was section C of the paper that gave them the jitters and despite being prepared they were unable to solve the equations. However, teachers feel students who had practiced beyond NCERT textbooks would not have faced any issue while giving the exam.
City-based mathematics expert Anil Verma said the paper was slightly difficult and lengthy as compared to last year’s paper. “The focus of this year’s CBSE Class 12 paper was on Higher Order Thinking Skills. This year, the paper had questions from relations and functions, Algebra, Calculus, vectors and three-dimensional geometry, linear programming, probability,” adding, “We hope CBSE will go easy on the marking. While, 70% of the paper was NCERT, the rest was from competitive books. However, the paper was easy for students who coach for competitive examinations.”
Commenting on the reactions from students, CBSE regional director RJ Khanderao said, “I haven’t received any complaint so far. Also, it must be understood that no question was out of syllabus so we can’t say how the marking scheme will be at this stage.”
