Bengal’s secondary education board on Thursday announced a “blueprint” that provides details on chapter/ topic-wise questions and marks in each subject factoring in the reduction in the syllabus necessitated by the Covid pandemic.
The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education has pruned the syllabus by 30 to 35 per cent for the students of Class X, who will write Madhyamik next year, as in-person classes are still uncertain.
The curtailed syllabus came into effect in Madhyamik 2021 but the exam could not be conducted because of the pandemic.
The blueprint uploaded on the secondary education board’s website on Tuesday evening details how many multiple-choice questions, very short questions, short and explanatory and essay-type questions each paper could have in next year’s Madhyamik, the dates of which have not yet been announced.
A notice addressed to the heads of the institution by Kalyanmoy Ganguly, the president of the board, announced the “blueprint”.
The guidelines on English suggest what types of questions could be set from the reading (seen), reading (unseen), grammar and vocabulary, and writing sections.
The guidelines on math state the types of questions likely to be set for arithmetic, algebra, geometry and mensuration.
The prose section from “Reading (Seen)” will contain five multiple-choice questions carrying 1 mark each, one short-answer question of 3 marks and two short and explanatory questions of 2 marks each.
In math, the chapter on mensuration will have one multiple-choice question of 1 mark, two short-answer questions of 3 marks each and four large answer questions of 4 marks.
“The pattern of questions set on the basis of the truncated syllabus should help the examinees prepare for the next year’s board examinations,” said an official of the board.
Saudipta Das, the secretary of the association of assistant headmasters and assistant headmistresses, said: “Since the prospect of in-person classes seems bleak, the board had little choice but to carry forward the decision of pruning the syllabus and come up with a blueprint. Classes over the online platforms have remained inaccessible to a large section of students because of the digital divide.”
Repeated calls to the board president went unanswered.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her government was keen to reopen schools after the Puja break, provided the Covid situation was under control and “the third wave is not as dangerous”.