Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 7: The fact-finding committee constituted to look into the functioning of the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) and the lapses in the conduct of the Plus II examinations last year has recommended several reforms in the evaluation of Plus II papers, examination pattern, syllabus and management of examinations.
The panel, which submitted its final report to the state government Saturday, also recommended action against the officials in charge of the management of the Plus II examinations last year.
The four-member committee led by Amulya Kumar Panda, which submitted its final report to higher education minister Pradip Panigrahi in the presence of secretary GK Dhal and senior officials of the council here at the secretariat, talked of 21 key points, including revamping examination systems, redesigning course structures and capability building.
“The department has received the final report of the committee, which will be implemented from next year after a thorough review,” said Panigrahi.
One of the major reforms suggested by the committee is holding examinations in the first year like the second year exam. “We have noticed that the first year syllabus of Plus II has been neglected and teachers do not give much importance to it. So, we have suggested that examinations be conducted in the first year too and the exam should be done in both optical mark recognition (OMR) and subjective forms,” the panel head said.
The panel recommended that 50 mark OMR objective tests be conducted on each subject in the first year and 50 marks OMR objective test and 50 marks subjective test be held in the second year, according to sources.
“As we feel that our students are not doing well in the national level examinations, we have recommended that the government introduce a life skill development subject in the Plus II syllabus from the academic session 2015-16, which will develop their skills,” Panda said. This recommendation has been made after consulting educationists and some experts, he said.
Following the statewide uproar over faulty evaluation of papers in the last year’s annual Plus II examinations, state formed the committee headed by Panda, comprising retired principal of the BJB Junior College Bijay Chandra Rath, retired vice-principal of the BJB Junior College Satya Ranjan Mishra and joint secretary of the higher education department Ajay Kumar Nayak. The committee had submitted in its interim report on November 19 last year.