CBSE And The Batch Of 2017-18

Over these 16 years of my life, if there is one thing I have learned, (and am happy about ) it is the fact that everyone makes wrong decisions. Everyone. Be it a kid, a teenager, or a group of adults who I'll call the Ministry of Education. I don't feel the need to elaborate on this because be it a CBSE student/ parent or an ICSE/ SSC one, the media has done a fabulous job in making everyone aware of the Central Board of Secondary Education's decisions regarding class 10, a few months ago. One of them was discontinuing the erstwhile CCE format and introducing the '100% syllabus' policy which kept the pressure and tension levels on the students high throughout the year.

As a student moves from a lower class to the next one, he/ she is filled with ecstasy for multiple reasons - new books, new syllabus, new teachers and funnily, the fact that they 'passed' (which never really was an issue in CBSE). But sadly, that wasn't the case for the 17-18 batch. And the reason was quite obvious. No more interesting projects and activities to easily grab marks from and the dreadful 100% syllabus. This new thing came as a huge shock and caused anxiety, worry, pressure and tension amongst the boards-appearing students, their parents and the teachers. And why wouldn't it? Firstly, it's the board examination. It is a big deal (or so it is made to appear). Secondly, after years, the full syllabus resurfaced. And here is where I feel the Board made a mistake. They could have let the 17-18 batch continue with the CCE and impose full syllabus on class 9 and so on. This would have relieved a great deal of tension. And our batch wouldn't all of a sudden be faced with this madness. But no, that isn't what they did. Even though we had heard rumors regarding the 'No CCE' policy in Feb-Mar 2017, we were hopeful of a change. When the circulars came out in April, all hopes were shattered. 

But we didn't give up. We worked hard, very hard, all through the year. Tests, revisions, extra classes; everything that'd help us retain all we had learned in April'17 to March'18. 20 marks we had in hand, they said (internal marks). We made efforts to keep our notebooks up to date the whole year for those 5 marks. We re-did our projects and activities (and God, so many of them) to get the other 5 marks. And the worst of all? We gave one 50 marks and two 80 marks tests covering 25%, 50% and 75% syllabus respectively which would later be converted to 10 marks. There. That is how much we slogged. Had the CCE prevailed, we would have got 70 marks for doing nothing much, actually. But we didn't complain. Not that we were 'brave to face whatever lay ahead of us' at age 16, it was because we were prepared to use the phrase ''We were an experimental batch, okay? Full portion for the first time! You got away with half the syllabus (we'd tell our seniors) or you had time to get used to this pattern (we'd tell our juniors).'' But a big, fat thanks to our teachers who put in myriads of efforts and hard work, working with us, helping us at every stage and to our parents who motivated us and reassured us a little too often that they have faith in us and are positive that we'll do great! It is because of these people that we'll now, proudly be able to say "We did/ scored so well inspite of what CBSE has put us through. And honestly, speaking in this regard, I must admit that during the process of revision when I hurried through question papers, guides and reference books, I realized that the previous years' papers were damn easy! Or so they seemed because of how well we were prepared. We wished we were born a year or two earlier. But this is what destiny had in store for us.

The thought of rummaging through the ENTIRE book last minute was so horrid. 

The academic year passed in the blink of an eye with continuous assessments. The pre-boards in January got all of us nervous and we worked harder than ever. Then came the dreadful month of March. We nailed one exam after another. With each passing paper, our (more specifically 'my') fear for the last paper -Mathematics - lessened and we were optimistic of it being easy. As the question paper was handed to us on the morning of 28 March, our faces lit up with joy. The atmosphere lifted. We couldn't have asked for an easier paper. It seemed as though the easiness of the Math paper compensated for all the crap we had dealt with all year. All's well that ends well. The excitement and happiness levels were far beyond expectations as we walked out of the classrooms, brimming with joy and satisfaction. The almost 'non-sanguine' parents and teachers eagerly waiting outside knew at once that all had gone well.

Well, good things don't last long. Few hours into celebrating our triumph and freedom, we received calls and texts saying that the paper was leaked. It was a prank, definitely, we all thought. CBSE's statement attested it wasn't. The Math paper had been leaked in the Delhi-Haryana region. In less than an hour following this news, we were notified that a re-test would take place.

The re-test didn't take place (and we were in anticipation for almost a week). But I absolutely, necessarily, had to mention this because it was a huge deal and no one will ever understand what we felt emotionally. 

This incident makes me want to clear two things:

a. To all the people who are involved in this paper-leaking racket: I don't know what prompts you to do such things. Like, did you do this to intentionally cause a fiasco and break the hearts of lakhs of students and disappoint them, making them re-appear for an examination or did you do this to help a 'few' students score 80/80? Because let me tell you, if it's the first reason, you are an absolute loser. That you have nothing better to do than to sell out question papers a night before the exam. And if it's the second reason, then, well, sorry but there is a feeling of excitement mixed with nervousness when we students appear for exams. The anonymity of questions we are going to be faced with makes us feel like we are taking up a huge challenge. And as tensed and anxious as we are, we like it that way. No, we don't want the questions to be revealed to us. What's the whole point, then? Even if we did score full marks, we'd be filled with guilt. Guilt of cheating and being incompetent. It takes away the happiness and feeling of victory. The feeling of doing well, on your own, by yourself, is unparalleled. 

b. To CBSE for being so lax and incapable of keeping a question paper safe. 

Also, do you think 12 hours before the MATH paper, kids will be checking their WhatsApp for possible forwards of leaked papers? (Although we won't be surprised if that happens next year or the ones following). 

Lastly, Dear parents, you might feel that we are relaxed and not serious about our examinations or are glued to our phones all day or distracted all the time. But that is untrue. We are as tensed and worried about it as you are. Even more, actually, because we are the ones who face it finally. So please have faith and keep calm.