A majority of class X students were a happy lot after their State Board examination began on Wednesday with ‘easy’ language I papers.
While the class X State Board examination began on Wednesday, the class XII State Board exams drew to a close with political science, nursing, statistics and theory paper for vocational subjects.
Over 10 lakh students enrolled to write the class X examination in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry across 3013 centres. Close to 60,000 enrolled in Chennai, according to the directorate.
B. Sangavi and her friends, all students of a government-aided school in Vepery, who wrote the Tamil I paper, said they were extremely happy with the paper and termed it ‘very easy’. However, another student M. Preethi, a student at a government school said she could have done with more time. “I did not have time to attempt an eight-mark question,” she said.
Rebecca Ann and her friends who huddled around their teacher to quickly run through the paper, said the French paper was a cakewalk, “I finished the French I paper an hour before time,” she said. Jaya Gopinath, a French teacher, said while French I is largely textual, French II, involving grammar, would be more challenging.
While some students found Hindi I a lengthy paper, most said the paper threw no surprises their way. “The one-mark questions were especially easy and there was sufficient choice in questions too, said R. Khushi, a student of a matriculation school, who felt the revision exams conducted by her school had much tougher papers. “Though I found the paper quite lengthy, I managed to finish it on time,” said Meghna, who also wrote the Hindi I paper.
V. Gayathri, who wrote Telugu I, said most questions were from the textbook. The Sanskrit I paper too was not too different, affirmed the correspondent of Ahobila Mutt Oriental School.
S. Marylatha, a teacher for students with visual and hearing impairments, said students with hearing impairment usually find the language paper challenging. “A total of nine students wrote the exam from our school, and were able to finish the paper on time,” she said.
However, according to the directorate of government examinations, as many as 26 class X students were caught for malpractice in the State on Wednesday, with the highest being in Cheyyar, where 13 private candidates were caught. One private candidate, attempting the class X exam was caught for malpractice in south Chennai on Wednesday, according to the directorate.
This year, the maximum number of malpractices in the State Board higher secondary class XII examinations were reported on the day of the chemistry and accountancy examinations, with 120 students caught for malpractice in the State. A senior official from the directorate said the examination went off without disruptions on Wednesday.