Students in classes X and XII across the country will be sitting for the same examination papers during trial examination beginning this year. This is because the Bhutan Council for School Examinations and Assessment, BCSEA will be preparing the questions for the trial examinations of classes X and XII this year onwards. According to BCSEA, the change is to bring about uniformity and standardise the education system in the country.
Around 20,000 class X and XII students across the country will be appearing the trial examinations later in October.
Unlike the past years, this time, they will be sitting for the exam at the same time attempting the same questions set by BCSEA.
BCSEA will be sending encrypted questions via mail to schools for the trial examinations. The school administrations will be responsible to conduct the exam on the date set by BCSEA.
According to the officiating controller of examinations, while a few challenges might arise, they will try their
best to avoid any glitches in the conduction of the trial exam.
“There could be concerns related to uniformity in administering the exam. You can see that the marking of the paper may vary across schools despite the requirement for schools to follow the guidelines provided by BCSEA. Another challenge could be pertaining to the security and confidentiality of exam material since the school is going to handle all the materials. And the other we can see is connectivity issues since BCSEA is going to send the encrypted question through emails to schools. If the schools do not have good internet connectivity, they will probably face issues in downloading the questions and getting ready for the trial examinations,” said Kinley Dorji, officiating controller of examinations of BCSEA.
However, he said clear communication and sending the encrypted questions two weeks before the examination will help them mitigate such problems.
“We need to have clear communication with schools to ensure that they understand the SOP to conduct trial examinations. And, to maintain transparency and hold school principals accountable for the smooth and fair conduct of trial examinations.”
Meanwhile, some teachers raised their concerns regarding the syllabus coverage.
“From October, as the trial examinations start, we worry about the syllabus coverage. Currently, we are managing by taking extra classes in the morning, whereby the students come early to school for an hour before classes start,” said Chencho Dorji, a teacher at Lungtenzampa MSS.
According to BCSEA, teachers need to follow the syllabus set by the School Curriculum Division. Meanwhile, teachers and students are positive about the change.
“As a teacher, we are very happy and excited to have the same exam across the country. Even our children are very excited to sit for the trial exam and I think our children will be more confident and competent to sit for the board exams,” said Kamal Chhetri, a teacher at Pelkhil HSS.
“It will benefit us in knowing what to study and it will help us do well in the board examinations,” said Kinley Samten Wangchuk, a student of Lungtenzampa MSS.
“I think that it is going to be fair because every student is going to face the same questions,” said Tenzin Zangmo Gyeltshen who is also a student at Lungtenzampa MSS.
“I am excited because this time the trial papers will be a clear depiction of what the board exam papers will look like. So, then we can move forward and work on exactly what the questions were and practice more of the type of questions that have come,” said Trisha Chhetri, a student at Pelkhil HSS.
However, BCSEA said that the system might change after assessing its advantages and disadvantages.
Sonam Yuden
Edited by Phub Gyem
