Overcrowded exam schedule irks CBSE students

Few gaps and the pressure of continuous examinations have left the students appearing for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class XII examination in a state of panic.

The pupils of all schools affiliated to the central board complained that the examination timetable was "extremely packed" and is not leaving any gaps between papers, making revision very difficult for the all-important test, which begins on March 2 and ends on April 20.

The online JEE (Main) exam is scheduled for April 10 and April 11 respectively. In order to avoid inconvenience to the candidates, who have opted for the subjects scheduled on the above dates and will be appearing for online JEE-Main, the examination in the subjects have been rescheduled for April 18 and 20.

Students and parents comment on the jam-packed exam time-table:

• Animesh Khatua, a Class XII science student of SAI International School,said he was initially shocked to see the timetable of the CBSE exam. "For example, organic chemistry is a highly theoretical subject and requires a lot of revision, which needs time. The physics examination is on March 9 while the chemistry test on March 12. just two days are not sufficient for revising such a difficult paper
  
• Jyoti Prakash Padhy, another student, said, "For computer science we have been given a break of four days. However, compared to chemistry, it is an easier subject and requires practical applications. The students would appreciate if the extra two days could be provided to us between the physic and chemistry papers."
  
• "The board should understand the caliber and capabilities of all kinds of students and design the examination schedule accordingly, so that the children are not over-stressed. With the present date sheet, stress and depression is bound to take a toll on students," said a teacher S K Mohanty.
  
• "It does matter how prepared you are, but revision during the examination is often the most important thing. Some subjects need heavy writing practice and the gaps this timetable provides is just not sufficient," said Barun Mishra, another student.
  
• "During previous years, the board has given proper gaps between subjects and students did not face such a problem. A number of students have to appear in the national competitive examination and such a packed schedule is bound to affect their performance in these tests," said Sangeeta Das, a parent.