Sunaina Kakkar (name changed) is tense. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams are round the corner. Though she’s scored 87 per cent at the mock examination, she can be frequently seen pacing up and down her room, referring to new text books and browsing the Internet so that she’s able to deliver her best. But what exactly is the best?

For many like her, CBSE’s decision to make answer sheets — of the previous year’s toppers — available on its website is definitely an integrated solution to the problem.

The idea of introducing model answer scripts of toppers was suggested by CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly. “After detailed research and consultation with heads of the 90,000 plus schools affiliated to our board, we concluded that it’s time for the students to see for themselves what it takes to be a topper. It will definitely help them to scan and see what the style needs to be while attempting questions,” says M.C. Sharma, controller of CBSE board examinations.

Terming it an innovative step, Sharma says, “This will give students direct access to the answer papers and they can check for themselves what the best is.”

Among other initiatives, the CBSE has also decided to introduce questions that will evaluate students’ thinking skills. The sample papers of this new pattern are available on the board’s website (www.cbse.nic.in).

All affiliated schools have been informed about the new pattern and teachers have been asked to train their students accordingly. The board also seemed to have redesigned the question paper of major subjects like mathematics, science, English and the social sciences.

“The new design includes about 10 per cent of very short sample questions and about 20 per cent questions on High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS),” informed Rama Sharma, the spokesperson of the CBSE. Over 1.3 million students of classes X and XII will appear for the examination this year. Exams for both the levels will start from March 1. To ensure smooth conducting of examinations and scoring, the board has appointed school principals as chief nodal supervisors for evaluation purposes. But will these last minute changes be of any help?

Says Chandan Agarwal, director, Learning Hour.com, a pioneer in providing tutorial services, “The students are upset about the new format, that is, HOTS. But the fact that CBSE is making answer scripts available online may act as a balm. However, since the papers are of the previous year’s, I wonder how it’s going to bail students out from being affected by HOTS.”

However, not everybody feels the same way. Most teachers at CBSE affiliated schools seem to be happy with the board’s decision. “The details about HOTS may have been disclosed recently, but we knew about it for the past one year and we have trained our students accordingly,” says Rita Chatterjee, principal, Apeejay School, Calcutta. She goes on to add, “HOTS won’t be that tough. The analytical-based questions are only meant to test whether the students have mugged up or comprehended the concept.”

Malini Bhagat, principal of Modern High School, Calcutta, contends, “The board’s move is well timed. The online answer scripts of toppers will definitely help students to pen their answers in a better way.”

However, not everyone seems to share the same view. Says Herbert George, principal of M.P. Birla High School, “The decision is definitely a good one. But since the papers are being made available this late, I don’t know if it’s finally going to be of much help to students. In fact, it may unnerve those who aren’t following the format.” But Chatterjee is optimistic. “A lot of thinking has gone into the decision and I am sure, even if not this time, future examinees will certainly benefit.”

All said and done, the question that remains to be answered is how novel this method is. Says Gerry Arathoon, additional secretary and acting chief executive of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations, “The only new thing that’s being implemented by the CBSE board is that they are now making the answer scripts accessible online. As far as ICSE students are concerned, we have been providing the affiliated schools with a manual called Analysis of Pupil’s performance, where we provide the best answers and also let the teachers know the areas in which student’s aren’t faring well. It’s just that ours is a hard copy.”

Undoubtedly, that’s a good way to make teachers aware of things that they need to work on. Yet students unfortunately never get to see these manuals. They keep lying in the teachers’ locker. However, Arathoon responds to this by saying, “The manual has been in circulation since 1994 and it can certainly be made available to students provided they ask for it.” But, then, it’s doubtful how many students finally muster up courage to ask for the manual.

Coming back to the point, most academics feel that the online availability of answer scripts will definitely decrease the stress level among students.

Bhagat sums up the position by saying, “But I just hope that these answer scripts don’t end up being the yardstick. These should be treated only as one of the options available to students aspiring to score better. Instead of considering it a mandatory affair, it should be treated more as a guideline.”