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CBSE Class 10 Board Exam Importance

e 2010, the CBSE had made the class 10 board examinations optional to remove the fear of ‘board exam’ and reduce exam stress among students. Class 10 students who opt out of the CBSE board exams would be evaluated based on the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system that was introduced.

 

Also Read: Class 10th CBSE Board Exams to become compulsory again

After the new CBSE Chairman, Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi took charge in July 2016, there have been talks to make the class 10 board exam compulsory again. CBSE has finally taken the decision to make class 10 board exams compulsory again on 20 December, 2016.The importance of board exams for class 10 cannot be overlooked. Here are a few reasons why we believe that students should opt for taking the CBSE board exams in class 10:

1. Keep options open

Options after Class 10

If you plan to move out of the CBSE board after class 10, then taking the class 10 board exams becomes mandatory. Hence taking the board exams keeps your options open, just in case you’d want to change boards (like ICSE). Since the year that the CBSE board exams were made optional for class 10 students, the decision has been mired in controversy. For instance, the Maharashtra government ruled that only those CBSE students who took the board exams were eligible to apply to junior colleges through the centralized admission process (CAP). Admission for CBSE students who took their school-based examinations was done on the basis of the excess seats left vacant after the CAP was complete. Such a move turned out to be disadvantageous for students who opted for internal exams over board exams in class 10. Though this issue was later sorted out between the government and CBSE, the bottom line is that it is better to stick to the tried and tested and much widely accepted option of the class 10 CBSE board exams.

2. Learn to handle & channelize stress

  • While the purpose of making class 10 board exams optional was to do away with the undue stress that class 10 students face at such a young age, there is an alternate perspective to the situation – we need to change our mindset towards “stress”. The entire examination process should be taken as an experience that teaches the 14-15 year old to handle and tackle stress and inculcate habits like time-management, prioritisation, planning, scheduling etc.

    We should stop focussing on only the negative impacts of stress (which kick in only when stress levels reaches its extreme). Instead we need to realise that that there are positive effects of stress like enhanced productivity – stress can cause the brain to use more of its capabilities and thus increase productivity. These claims are based on the findings by Yale researcher Alia Crum and Shawn Achor, author of “The Happiness Advantage”.

3. Know where you stand

Taking the class 10 board exams is an excellent litmus test that gives you a clear indication of where you stand as compared to not just your 29 class-mates but class 10 students across India.

“I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.” – Walt Disney. Competition is important and a fact of life. There is no escaping it, so you may as well as experience it as early in life as possible!

Since boards are conducted at a national level, a not-so-good performance in class 10 boards will come across as a wake-up call for you to perform better. The sense of achievement and satisfaction on scoring well in your board exam will outweigh your happiness of doing well in your school’s internal exam.

4. Get a taste of class 12 board exams

Class 10 students should treat their board exams as a trial run for the class 12 board exams. The entire experience of going to another school and being seated with students from other schools, with teachers from different schools as invigilators can be an intimidating and novel experience for many students. It’s always better then, to use the opportunity in class 10 to get familiar with the rigmarole so that you’re more confident to face your class 12 boards which will decide the course of your college life.

5. Face your fear

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” – H. P. Lovecraft

Once you’ve successfully faced and conquered the class 10 board exams, you’ll find your fear of facing tougher, bigger exams fading away.

Start treating the board exams as a stepping stone instead of a hurdle. So instead of running away from your fear of failure/ taking a big exam and relying on easier solutions, it would be wiser to look it in the face and gain confidence and strength in the process.

6. Helps you learn

While no one wants pressure of any kind, there are stages when you just can not help it. Board exams can serve as an experience where you will learn to deal with pressure and tough situations and find solutions to them. You will learn how to manage time, multitask and give your best under pressure situations and will make you tough.

7. Transferable jobs

In case your parents have a transferable job, taking the board exams might become compulsory for you. As per the guidelines issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education, in case you wish to change your board, it will become compulsory for you to take the board exams.

8. Change of school

In case you wish to change your school after class 10, taking the board exams again becomes important. As per the guidelines issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education, in case you wish to change your school, it will become compulsory for you to take the board exams.

9. Best way to judge yourself

On a national level, you will be able to judge your performance better, than comparing yourself with only 40 students of your class. The percentile system will tell you where you stand. The percentile system may prove to be very helpful, in case you plan to take competitive exams. You will experience the system before actually taking a plunge.

10. 1st milestone

While class 12th boards are important in terms of career and higher education, class 10th boards give you a taste of what to expect from board exams and the hype surrounding it. While class 12 exams are different in many ways from class 10 exams, the hype surrounding the boards remains. In that sense, class 10 exams will act as net practice for class 12 boards.

11. Getting out of the shell

Comparing your performance with 40 students is OK, but once you step out of your comfort zone of taking the exams at a different center, taking a paper made by some other teacher and being evaluated by teachers who are not from your school eventually help you assess yourself better. By being in an unforeseen situation and coming out triumphant gives you confidence to do things. And the sooner you start, the better.

As Elenor Roosevelt once said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself. I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”

So, not taking the exams for the fear of failure or pressure should not be a reason for you to skip the boards. Instead, you should take it up as a challenge and strive to work towards giving your best and coming out triumphant.

 

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