Schools in Bengaluru to give weightage to entrance exams for class 11 admissions

As the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has cancelled the exams of class 10, many schools in the city are giving importance to an entrance test for admission to class 11.

Even though entrance exams were a common practice in several schools, it gets more weightage this year. Sarada Chandrasekaran, director of Whitefield Global School said, “This time, schools are depending more on the proctored entrance test than pre-boards. Till last year, exams were conducted physically, and marks on report cards were accurate. However, with pre-boards going online, not only did students not take them seriously, but concerns about accuracy also emerged as students tend to adopt unfair means during such exams.”

Nagarjuna Vidyaniketan, which used to conduct entrance exams for outsiders has now extended to its students too. Leena BH, principal of the institution said, “After online pre-boards, we conducted offline exams in which many students did not fare well. We had to work extensively with them before they improved their scores. Therefore, we want to conduct a test to understand their capabilities.

In many schools, admission tests are used to understand the student’s capability and interest in a subject. Hema Nagarajan, principal of Vyasa International School said, “We conduct entrance tests every year to get clarity about what combinations would suit a child. However, this year students themselves want to write the tests and see where they stand as there have been a lot of gaps in learning and they want to substantiate their choice.”

Leena added, “The online entrance test will include more analytical questions that can’t be just copy-pasted from other sources.”

Also, Harvest International School has decided to replace the pen and paper test with a presentation/viva. Dakshayini Khanna, the founding director stated, “We will give a few topics to children to prepare. We will ask them to make a presentation or conduct a viva. If time permits, we also want to explore the possibility of holding a group discussion. We want students to speak about their interests and the reason for choosing a combination. We’re looking at communication skills, clarity of thought and basic skill set.”

Though CBSE and ICSE class 10 exams have been cancelled, SSLC exams are scheduled from June 21. Some school principals told to wait and watch to know the consequences on admission due to policy differences in conducting exams.