CBSE board exam 2020: Around 6 lakh students to appear for Basic Mathematics in class X

TNN

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Of the total 19 lakh students set to appear for the exam, 13 lakh will appear for the standard question paper

Only 32% of the students across India have chosen to appear for the 

Basic Mathematics

 paper in the upcoming class X boards while the rest 68% will appear for the standard version of the question paper.

The Basic Mathematics has been introduced for the first time by the CBSE for students who do not wish to pursue Math in higher classes. The roll-out is aimed at making the assessment more learner-centric and reducing exam-related stress. Despite having two question papers with different difficulty levels, classroom teaching and internal assessment for students opting for either of the levels would remain the same.

"Of the total 19 lakh (approx) students set to appear for class X boards, as many as 6 lakh students have opted for the Basic Mathematics paper while around 13 lakh students will appear for Standard Mathematics," says 

Sanyam Bhardwaj

, controller of examinations, CBSE.The response to the roll-out has been good and will help improve the performance of the students who earlier had no alternative if they did not want to continue with Mathematics in the higher classes, added Bhardwaj.

Though the Board is happy with the outcome, earlier Education Times had reported that not many parents were in favour of letting their children opt for Basic Mathematics. Most parents considered it an "inferior choice" and coerced their wards to pursue Mathematics even if their child lacked the aptitude. While educationists welcomed the move, they had to extensively counsel parents about career choices sans Mathematics.

The board has also provided flexibility to the students to appear for the Standard Mathematics paper later in July 2020 after appearing for the basic exam in March should they change their mind and pursue the subject in higher classes.