Several Std X students from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) were baffled over a question on Wednesday. The four-mark question in the social science paper was reportedly not clear in print, due to which many high-scorers might lose marks.

Avnita Bir, principal of RN Podar School, Santa Cruz, said: "There was a question on the identification of a crop. Since the crop was not clearly printed, many students were confused between rice, wheat and sugarcane. Though the identification carried only one mark in itself, the three questions that followed was based on the description of the crop." She added that students could not identify the crop properly and hence lost four marks. The Delhi board generally distributes three sets of question papers, and this particular question was asked in all the sets.

Bir, who is the secretary of Mumbai Sahyodhya, a group of all CBSE schools in the city, said: "We will write to the subject expert about the poor print so that students don't lose marks." The CBSE board, unlike the state board, provides contact details of subject experts for all subjects in a circular prior to the exams.

Failed venture for Commerce students

Meanwhile, in the state board exams, commerce students found the book keeping and accounts exam easy. However, a question on joint venture stumped them. "The question was not expected. The method asked to solve the problem was unfamiliar to us," said a student Charmi Parekh. Pratik Thakur, a student of Podar College also experienced difficulty with the same problem. "The sum was for 12 marks and was quite difficult. Except that question, the paper was quite easy," he said.

Students further complained about the quality of answer sheets provided. Said Parekh, "The thread that binds the answer sheet supplements is very loose. There are chances that it might come off and our answer sheets might be lost in the process. I had to change my entire answer sheet 20 minutes into the exam." Science students found the Chemistry-I paper simple.

DNA correspondent/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication