Mixed response to CBSE exam 2 for class 10 students of Bengaluru schools

Bengaluru: CBSE second exam for class 10 students has received a moderate response from city schools. The exam will kick off Friday.

“From what we’ve observed, around 25% of students are taking the re-exam. They are those who are not happy with the results (of first exam). Even toppers who lost a few marks have applied to improve. While there were around 379 centres for the first exam, there are 72 for the re-test,” said Sandeep Pai S, chairman, Bangalore Sahodaya, an association of CBSE schools.

Based on National Education Policy, CBSE introduced the two-exam concept allowing students who have appeared in class 10 test to get a chance to improve their scores in up to three subjects during the second exam. The syllabus remains the same.

Maths and science have the highest takers this time. Maths was the dampener in the first exam, with many students finding the paper lengthy and tough, thus pulling down their averages. Not many are taking social science or languages, schools said.

BGS International Residential School principal Shyamashree Chaterjee said: “Around 20-30 children of almost every school with a strength of 150 are taking the test. Surprisingly, students who have got marks in their 70s and want to improve their marks to 80s are appearing. We have observed that those who got 40 and 50 marks are not writing the exam.”

There are also instances of many students who initially applied and then decided to back off and not take the exam. “While 22 students applied from our school, two of them who have already got admissions decided not to write,” said Seema Gupta, principal of Navkis Education Centre. The marks of the first exam will be considered final in such cases.

There are a set of educationists who believe the second exam is not necessary. “Students have already taken admission for class 11 in schools. Every school/PU college now holds its own admission test. So, there is no point in holding a class 10 exam, let alone a re-test. This is just a waste of resources, with no serious advantages,” said a school principal.

In Karnataka, the pass percentage of class 10 students was 98.9%.

Free training for NEET candidates

In a heartwarming gesture, a training centre has offered free classes to all NEET aspirants irrespective of the coaching class they are part of. Any student can learn not only through online mode, but also walk into campuses and learn at the classroom programme.

The focus of the initiative is academic preparation and helping students rebuild confidence, maintain consistency and approach the re-exam with a calmer and more prepared mindset, said the centre. The May 3 NEET was cancelled following a paper leak.

As part of the initiative, students will receive access to free NEET-pattern mock tests, practice sessions, time-management training among others.

Speaking about the initiative, Sridhar G, founder, Deeksha Vedantu, said: “We understand what students and parents are going through right now. Preparing again for a national-level examination can feel emotionally overwhelming. Through Re-NEET, we want every student to know they are not alone.”