National Curriculum Proposes Measures to Cut Suicides Due to Exam Stress

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has taken steps to reduce stress on students due to examination.

Reports on cases of students committing suicide have appeared in newspapers from time to time.

National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005 recommends measures like reduction of curriculum load, emphasis on comprehension and application of knowledge, focus on continuous and comprehensive evaluation, emphasis on testing of competencies rather than rote memory, making examination more flexible, provision of guidance and counselling in schools, and over all to make learning child-centric.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has already taken the following steps to reduce stress on students due to examination:-

• Continuous and comprehensive evaluation with marks assigned for internal assessment
• The examination system has been reconstructed to test more of conceptual knowledge and understanding rather than rote memory
• Additional 15 minutes time is given in class X and XII examinations to enable students to read question papers thoroughly
• Setting up of examination help-line and making available sample question papers
• Designing question papers so that all the questions can be answered in 21/ 2 hours even though the total period of examination is 3 hours
• Shift from content based to problem solving and competency based testing
• Higher weightage to practicals
• Introduction of Mathematics labs in schools to improve conceptual understanding

Allowing students to appear in compartmental examination immediately after the declaration of the result of the main examination. Five chances are given in two subjects in class X and one subject in class XII. CBSE has advised all senior secondary schools to appoint counselors. It provided counseling facilities centrally to students and parent through telephone and e-mail before Xth and XIIth class examinations.

NCERT offers a course on Counselling and Guidance for regular teachers so that the latter can do a part time counselling for students in need.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Shri M.A.A. Fatmi in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Source-PIB
SRM