In a significant move, the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) Odisha announced improvements in the conduct of the matriculation exam. From 2020-21 academic session, the examination pattern for the class 10th and class 12th board exams in the state will be changed and a new design will be implemented. According to the press release, the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet and multiple-choice question pattern will be abolished from 2020. The students will instead have to answer 50 marks objective and 50 marks subjective questions in the exam without the OMR sheet of MCQs. Teenage Girl Commits Suicide in Odisha! Sets Herself on Fire After Failing in BSE Matric Supplementary Exam. 

The BSE President Jahan Ara Begum was quoted in the media reports as saying, “The system of answering 50 per cent objective and subjective questions will continue in the HSC examination, 2019. Answering multiple choice questions on OMR sheets and subjective questions in question-cum-answer booklets shall also continue, though with some reforms.” The changes will replace the existing pattern of three set MCQs by four parallel set questions. Hence, there will be four distinct set of questions for students.

President Begum also informed that the minimum pass mark would be 15 for both objective and subjective parts in each subject. She further said, “However, the new system without OMR answer sheets will be introduced from the current academic session for Class IX students. They will have have to answer 50 per cent objective and subjective questions without the multiple choice questions. The objective part will not have alternative options. The candidates will have to write the answer against each question.”

The multiple-choice questions will analyse the logical reasoning, analytical ability, decision making and problem-solving ability of students and there will be no change in the subjective part of the questions. Meanwhile, answering the MCQs on OMR answer sheets and subjective questions in question-cum-answer booklets will continue for the current year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2018 09:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).