In India, board examinations refer to the pivotal examinations that occur at the end of the 9th to 10th grade education (SSC), or at the end of the 11th to 12th grade education (HSC). The scores achieved in these exams are considered very important for getting into university, getting into professional courses or training programs, and even possibly in finding employment.
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Preparation
So what's the REAL problem? In all these situations, the real problem is that although you have assimilated the knowledge, you don't know how to use that knowledge to your advantage. This could, most probably, be due to lack of in-depth understanding of the concept.
The problem arises when you read through the concepts to gain maximum knowledge about the concept and the knowledge you could actually gain is just superficial. To reinforce knowledge and to understand it correctly and completely, you need to practice by solving the right kind of questions.
The Solution: Choosing the RIGHT Questions Now that we know the underlying problem and its solution, the next job is to ensure that the questions identified by you are the right ones. In fact, there are three sources from where you can get the 'right kind of questions'.
(a) The NCERT textbook The NCERT textbook contains certain understanding-based questions after every concept dealt with in the book. Basically, the book has been structured in a way that ensures step-by-step learning and assessment of the sub-topics rather than focusing on overall understanding of the topic.
Try to solve these questions on your own and get your answers checked by an expert. Identify the questions that you have got wrong and revise the relevant concept before you attempt them again.
(b) Question bank A question bank indexed topic-wise or concept-wise can help serve your purpose. Go to a good bookshop and browse through the question banks available. Choose a book that presents the questions concept-wise. Consider the listed question as a mini test on the concept and take it. Get your answers checked by an expert. Look for the concepts you are weak at and work on them.
(c) Online resources Although presented in a structured way, the NCERT questions are not comprehensive and very probing. You can only identify the larger chinks in your preparation from it. The types of questions in the question bank may not be application and understanding-oriented.
Procedures
(This section and the next describe the CBSE board examinations. Procedures may vary with other boards.)
Each of the examinations takes place simultaneously across the world, to ensure that questions are not leaked in advance across time zones. Security is usually very high for these board examinations. The question papers are distributed by the overseeing board of education, and their contents are guarded closely until the exam begins. The examinations may include multiple sets of question papers as well. The candidates are issued identification passes in advance, which are presented to the staff at the examination site. The site itself must not be the same school where a candidate is from; to ensure impartiality, the candidate must travel to a different school to take the examination. For the same reason, the candidate may not identify himself/herself on the answer sheet except with an identity-masking number. Use of calculation aids other than logarithm tables is prohibited. The examinations last about 3 hours per course and 2 hours in case of science practical.
CICSE=
The COUNCIL was established in 1958 by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate to ensure that its examinations become adapted to the educational needs of the country and assign the ultimate control of the same on the COUNCIL. The COUNCIL was registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 on 19 December, 1967. The object of the COUNCIL is educational, and includes the promotion of science, literature, the fine arts and the diffusion of useful knowledge by conducting school examinations through the medium of English. The Council exists solely for educational purposes and not for purposes of profit.
Evaluation
The answer sheets are sent back to the board of education overseeing the certifications. The papers are evaluated based on examples of ideal answers. A false roll no. is attached to the answersheet before evaluation. Once the answers have been evaluated, the identity numbers are matched to the actual roll no. (and identity) of the candidate. The board then issues an official grade/score report for the exam to the candidate, as well as a certificate of completion in the case of the HSC exam (for those who pass). Reevaluation of the answers by the board is possible with the payment of a fee.
References
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