Class 10 students, who sat for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Kannada exam on Saturday, said the paper had many questions that were out of syllabus. Many of them were in tears as they came out of the examination hall.
Students and teachers have now decided to petition the board to provide grace marks. A teacher from a CBSE school in Bengaluru said that questions bearing around 17 marks were out of the prescribed syllabus. “Students are extremely worried and we want to raise the matter with the higher authorities in the CBSE,” she said.
Some of these questions were compulsory, and others optional. As students began to panic when they got the question paper, the invigilators tried to calm them down. They suggested that students should at least attempt the questions, which would work to their benefit should the board decide to award grace marks.
“We were shocked to see the question paper. How can the paper setters be so negligent and put in so many questions from the old syllabus in the paper in a board examination. I could not attempt the questions as I had no clue what the answers could be,” said one worried student.
The affected students pointed out that their peers, who had picked other languages, would benefit as they would score higher marks.
Official sources in the CBSE said that they would examine the matter, and have asked the schools to send their objections to the board.
