CHSE allows Class XII students to appear in improvement exam

Bhubaneswar: Taking a cue from CBSE, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) has decided to implement an ‘improvement examination’ from this year onwards to allow students who appeared for Class XII boards to improve their scores.CHSE controller of exams (CoE) Prasanta Kumar Parida said over the past three academic sessions, the council has been getting representations from students to allow improvement examinations, as is done by the CBSE for those appearing for Class X and XII boards.“A committee of CHSE studied the proposal last year, and it was decided that improvement examinations will be implemented from this year onwards,” Parida said.Under the improvement guidelines, a student who clears all papers in higher secondary (HS) exam can reappear in one paper of her/his choice to improve the scores. It will be organised in May along with the instant examinations after the results of the Class XII boards are announced.In the case of instant examination, a student who fails in one subject can reappear for the exam to clear it. Results will be published within 60 days of the exam.

“There is a mandate of 75% aggregate marks to get into IITs. In the HS exam, there are many students who score highly but still fall short of the marks needed to get into bigger institutions. This improvement examination arrangement will help students to achieve the high percentage required to get admission to certain central institutes like IITs,” Parida explained.Currently, the CBSE allows a student who cleared Class X or XII to appear for improvement in one subject in the supplementary exam in Class XII, and two subjects in Class X, or in one or more subjects in the succeeding year.This year, the HS exam began on Feb 18 and will end on March 21. Evaluation will be conducted in two phases — from April 2 to 13 and then from April 15 to 26. Parida said 16,000 teachers will be engaged in the evaluation process.