Mumbai: CBSE’s open-book exams. Aye or nay?

As the CBSE board intends to initiate a pilot run of the Open Book Exam OBE for select subjects in Std IX X XI and XII during internal examinations stakeholders share mixed reactions over the potential change in the examination system While principals of schools in the city affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education CBSE view the ldquoopen book examrdquo concept designed to discourage rote learning as a positive step academicians caution that students and schools may be facing ldquotoo many changes too soonrdquoThe pilot run for OBE is scheduled to take place in selected schools only in the month of NovemberDecember this year focusing on subjects such as English Mathematics and Science for Std IX and X and English Mathematics and Biology for Std IX and XII This assessment approach aligns with the National Curriculum Framework NCF released last yearThe objective of this pilot run is to assess the time students require to complete such tests and gather feedback from both teachers and students The development and design of the pilot test are expected to be completed by June with the CBSE seeking assistance from Delhi University for this endeavourThe openbook idea put forth by the CBSE board received mixed reactions from other stakeholders too Those who have welcomed the move have questioned the implementation of the systemPrincipals sayAccording to several principals from the cityrsquos CBSE schools the open book concept is one of the methods by which the board is trying to change and reform the system of assessment and inculcate analytical skills among students The move they said is aimed at correcting the ldquowrongs in the systemrdquo However it also has disadvantages and needs to be dealt with in a planned way they saidDeepshikha Srivastava a seasoned educationist and an academic advisor at Hansraj Morarji Charity Trust says it is a very good initiative but requires proper monitoring training and acquainting teachers and students about this conceptAs principal of Rajhans Vidyalaya a CBSE school in Andheri Srivastava had introduced the open book concept in Std XI in 2012 She told midday that the exercise garnered mixed reactions from teachers students as well as parents ldquoOBE is definitely a step forward to knowledgebased education With the experience I have got I can say that the OBE proposal will work only if the teachers are first trained and oriented towards this kind of assessment methodology It was also introduced in some topics for younger children in Rajhans With a sudden change in the curriculum in Std XI we felt that students were finding it difficult to absorb the content Hence we started the open book concept in their assignments and it worked well to a certain extent The aim was to ensure that students read the entire book and understand the content instead of reading certain chapters from the point of view of giving common entrance tests As 90 per cent donrsquot read the entire book the assignments were not easy for them and it took them time to answer the questionsrdquo she saidShe added ldquoThe mugging and rote learning trend has led to a lot of problems Students manage to clear entrance and get into IITs however at later stages they cannot perform causing issues However I believe if OBE has to be implemented it should be implemented from at least Std V so that by the time students reach Std IX and X they get used to the pattern I am not very sure about implementing it from higher classesrdquoMove from rote learningThe thought process behind concepts like open book and introduction of ldquoproblem solving assessmentrdquo for Std IX and XI by CBSE It is to move away from rote learning to developing analytical skills among children from an early age It is just a pilot run for now whatever format the open book proposal finally takes it will require a different approach towards teaching and learning I feel These various proposals are meant to test lsquohigher order thinking skillsrsquo of students rather than relying on a rotebased methodologyrdquo said Anuja Karthik a teacher from a school in south MumbaiA former principal of a CBSE school and educationist said ldquoCBSE needs to go slow now Introducing new schemes each year and getting reform after reform in the current system will not only trouble students but also school teachers and principals Though schools are willing to support the idea of making a stressfree system for students CBSE will have to put a full stop to any more reforms at least until the previous ones are implemented systematically Bringing in changes needs proper training and most important the mental preparedness of the teachers and students otherwise the system would failrdquoNitin Upasani educationist and former secretary of Mumbai division of Maharashtra state board too feels the same He says that systems like open book exam have both disadvantages and advantages ldquoCBSE board might call it student friendly which is true but that may not help the students in the long run This open book exam system will reduce the speed of writing and answering among students who will have to first understand the question analyse the situation and write the answer accordingly In later stages for various reasons these students may choose to go to other boards after Std X or XII If they donrsquot get this facility there it will affect them Luckily the government is planning uniformity in all boards so it might be a saviour but that will take time Instead they should have a system which will encourage analytical learning and help students have basic knowledge of the subject to understand the fundamentalsrdquo Upasani saidUpsani suggested that OBE be implemented for only descriptive subjects like languages and to some extent social science History geographylsquoProper implementation vitalrsquoArundhati Chavan president of the ParentTeachersrsquo Association United Forum said proper implementation is crucial to making this a success in India ldquoIt is a good move but the question is how it will be implemented It requires proper skills to set the questions and ensure that they are application based so that children can apply their thinking abilities while writing Else the concept will not serve its purpose In 2013 too CBSE had announced the Open book assessment system In fact it was implemented to some extent I donrsquot remember what happened then Now they are doing a pilot run againrdquo