Entrance test papers can now be carried home

NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to let examinees carry back question booklets after appearing for the All-India Pre-medical/Pre-dental (AIPMT) and the All- India Engineering Entrance Examinations (AIEEE).
The Board has started releasing on the Internet details of performance of all students in all papers taken at the AIPMT.So far only a merit list comprising names of successful candidates used to be released.
‘‘Now students can immediately add up their marks and gauge their performance for themselves,’’ controller of examinations Pavnesh Kumar said.
The initiative to post the subject-wise performance of each student on the CBSE website was initiated last year. Since then, the number of requests for re-evaluation had dropping drastically, Kumar said.
Sources said one of the reasons behind the move was the increased confidence of the Board in its evaluation system. ‘‘Earlier, there used to be doubt within the CBSE whether all the 200 questions asked in the PMT examination could stand external scrutiny. Hence the insistence on not allowing students to take home the question booklets,’’ the source said. Over the years, there have been several cases where the CBSE has been dragged to court and answersheets have been examined. However, the directives went in favour of the Board.
The CBSE conducts the AIPMT examinations in April/May every year on the directives of Supreme Court. The first examination was conducted in 1988 and there has been a steady increase in the number of candidates since then.
The AIEEE was conducted by the CBSE for the first time last year following a directive from human resource development ministry.