CBSE proficiency test gets tougher

CHENNAI: The proficiency test to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for class 10 students is likely to be as tough as other competitive exams. The board has said that the test would include negative marking, a pattern followed by competitive entrance tests in the country like the IIT-JEE, AIEEE and AIPMT.

Announcing the dates for the optional proficiency test on its website, the CBSE said, "Negative marks will be awarded for wrong answers in different subjects as per the general guidelines. More than one answer indicated against a question will also be deemed as incorrect response and will attract negative marks."

Students who opted for the test are not excited about the negative marking system. Gautham Sekar, a student who will be taking the test, said, "The negative marking in a proficiency test will serve no useful purpose but will decrease our confidence."

Schools are not as worried. C Satish, senior principal, RMK Group of Schools, said, "The marks in this test are not going to adversely affect the student as they are not going to be used to secure admission to the senior secondary classes. The tests should be looked upon as an indicator of which stream the student should take in class 11."

The CBSE has brought in educational reforms that stress on round-the-year assessment of the student through the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation system.

It will be a paper-and-pencil test and all questions will be of multiple-choice type. The students will be required to mark the answers on a sheet provided at the test centre. The test will be based on the class 9 and 10 syllabi and will carry 100 marks. Students appearing for the test will be issued a certificate by the board indicating their percentile rank.

General guidelines and sample questions in each subject and information about the overall design of the question paper are available on the CBSE website.

Taking into consideration the convenience of the schools and candidates and the schedule of other major examination-related activities, the CBSE has planned the test in July. The mathematics test will be held on July 4, Hindi on July 5, science on July 6, social science on July 7 and English on July 8.

Source:toi