SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2024
Raju Vernekar
While much debate has taken place over the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s pilot project to introduce open book exams (OBE) for Classes 9 to 12, on an experimental basis, in November-December this year, diverse opinions are being expressed about its success going by the current assessment process, focused on measuring rote learning.
The aim behind OBE is to replace rote learning with a comprehensive understanding of the concepts, enabling the students to apply them in the real world. The CBSE wants to ascertain the time taken by students to complete such tests and gather feedback. Delhi University is helping the Board with the pilot test, which is expected to be ready by June. The OBE is expected to cover subjects such as English, Mathematics, and Science for Classes 9 and 10, and English, Mathematics, and Biology for Classes 11 and 12.
The CBSE plans to conduct a comprehensive study within its affiliated schools to assess the viability of implementing the OBE within the Indian educational framework. It plans to experiment with the OBE approach and subsequently evaluate its feasibility within the Indian context.
The CBSE had initially introduced the OBE in 2014-2015 to 2016-2017 for the year-end exams of classes 9 and had introduced case-based questions in the board exam paper to assess whether embracing the OBE assessment would genuinely benefit students. However, it was subsequently discontinued due to negative feedback from students and parents.
Now the pilot project is in keeping with the reforms planned in the school education system envisaged in the National Education Policy-2000 (NEP 2020) and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE 2023).
In an open-book exam, the students are permitted to refer to their notes, textbooks, or other study material to answer the questions asked in the exam. The OBE exams are harder than closed-book exams, since they require students to understand the material and be able to analyze information rather than just remember it. The OBEs do not demand direct copy-pasted answers, but require the students to apply the concepts beyond the facts mentioned in their textbooks. The questions will not be direct like they are in traditional examinations.
There are two types of open-book exams- free and restricted. The restricted examination will allow students to use material approved by the exam-conducting authority, while for free they can use any material they deem relevant. The idea is to cultivate critical abilities among students.
The past many decades saw the students reading by heart, answers to probable questions given in guides. There are many instances of the students not buying even textbooks and merely depending upon the notes provided by private coaching classes. Continuing with this mindset, are various competitive examinations where the “objective” questions rule the roost. There has been less emphasis on topics like précis writing, comprehension, etc.
Some educationists feel that it will be ideal to follow the OBE concept at a higher level where the students are involved in research work and required to analyze the topic. It is certainly unwanted at the school level where the students struggle to pick up the threads.
Whereas some are of the opinion that the idea of OBE is not bad since it will compel students to read their textbooks thoroughly and do self-introspection. The existing pattern of exams and question papers made available by educational institutes dwell upon memorizing, whereas an emphasis will be laid on an analysis in OBE.
