For students of class 10 in State Board schools who will be writing board examinations this year, the Directorate of Government Examination has reiterated that there will be no blueprint given for reference, ahead of their exams. A blueprint generally gives the students an idea of how many marks they will be tested for, from each chapter in their textbooks.
For the last two years, the School Education Department has avoided giving a blueprint to students of classes 11 and 12 who are taking up the exams. With students of classes 10 gearing up to take the board exams under the new syllabus this year, a section of students and parents were expecting that they might be given a blueprint.
“While we are okay with not being given a blueprint, it would be helpful for the students if they are aware of what type of questions they will be tested in through a standard format,” said P.K. Ilamaran, president of the Tamil Nadu Teachers Association.
Officials from the School Education Department have said that questions can be asked from any lesson for any number of marks. “It is the School Education Department’s belief that students should read and understand all their lessons which is why we are avoiding giving a blueprint. Students and teachers must be aware that all lessons should be treated with equal importance,” an official said.
A communication to this effect has been sent to district-level education officials to instruct school heads and teachers.
The Department has further emphasized the fact that the model question paper released is just to give students an idea of the question paper pattern. “It is merely for reference and students cannot expect the blueprint of the final question paper to mirror that of their model question papers,” the Directorate of Government Examinations has warned.
Patric Raymond, General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers Federation said that so far, students have been getting only district-level common papers for their half-yearly and revision exams. “With no blueprint in place for the new syllabus, we are unsure how they will be tested in the board exams. One of the revision exam rounds that the students are writing can have a common question paper for the entire State so that students can go in more confidently for the board exams,” he said.
