Students of CBSE schools in Kerela starts preparing for OTBA

CBSE Schools in Kerala, started polishing their students for the upcoming Open Text Based Assessment (OTBA). The first of its kind, OTBA will be conducted by CBSE in all of its affiliated schools in the month of March 2014.

Through OTBA, the CBSE board will assess students of Class IX and XI to evaluate their understanding level to situational problem as well as the ability of providing innovative opinions and suggestions at the time of requirement.

Apart from annual exams, the OTBA will be conducted for four subjects- English, Social Sciences, Hindi and Mathematics, and will include questions of total 10 marks. The exam study material has already been supplied to schools by the CBSE board in September. All the questions in the open text exam will be asked from the given material, which includes an article, a case study, a diagram, a concept map, a picture or a cartoon, problem or situation based on the concepts.

The Principal of Kakkanad Christhujayanthi public School says "we are relying on the sample papers sent by CBSE for students' preparations, and we are trying to ensure that the students apply their knowledge and skills while responding to the quarries. We are encouraging students to think out of the box."

Discussing their preparation strategies, the Principal of Thammanam Nalanda Public School says "we will divide students in the group of five each to carry out discussions on the issue amongst themselves and come out with appropriate solutions by themselves. For this exam, students need to develop a little bit of creativity, subject knowledge and ability to analyze things."