Students attending first day of SSLC exam at the Government school at Malleshwara in Bengaluru. (Representative image)
Credit: DH Photo/B K Janardhan
Bengaluru: The Department of School Education and Literacy has introduced open book exams for classes 8, 9 and 10. However, the exams are only for the purpose of ‘practice’.
In its handbook released for the 2024-25 academic year, the department states that open book exams can help develop the habit of reading among children.
Officials said that in light of the decline in SSLC pass percentage this year and survey findings indicating a reduction in students’ learning abilities after the two-year gap during the Covid-19 pandemic, the department has decided to introduce open book exams.
They said the new approach will help children to come out of rote learning and boost confidence. “Instead of making them appear for the board exams directly, we are trying to prepare them this way. This will also help alleviate the anxiety associated with examinations,” an official said.
Teachers welcomed the move. “Open book exams are not easy if the students are not thorough with textbooks. So this method will guide children away from rote learning and help them understand the concepts better,” said Mallesha D, a teacher at a government school in Bengaluru.
The handbook issued by the department instructs schools to conduct subject-wise open book exams for 25 marks by preparing question papers at the school level and fixing the time limit to complete the exams. “The students should be asked to identify the answers from the respective textbooks and write the exams. This will help them to cultivate the habit of reading and referring textbooks regularly and they will also understand the importance of studying textbooks,” reads the circular.
Besides open book exams, the department has also introduced surprise tests which will be self-evaluated by the students, providing them with experience in both taking the exams and evaluation.
It may be recalled that open book exams were recommended in higher education too by the expert committee constituted to study suicides at a private university. However, the recommendation is pending before the government.