Ludhiana: Shortage of pages in answer book in Class 12 maths exam leaves students baffled
Many students were unable to attempt long-answer questions due to the space constraints, leading to concerns over their final scores
A shortage of pages in answer booklets caused panic among Class 12 students appearing for the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) mathematics exam on Friday. Students allege that they were not informed about this development before and came to know about this on the day of examination.
Many students were unable to attempt long-answer questions due to the space constraints, leading to concerns over their final scores. Students are now demanding grace marks.
Teachers pointed out that while previous years’ booklets contained 32 pages, the number has now been reduced to 28. “Even this year, the answer sheets provided for Chemistry, Physics and Biology had 32 pages, but mathematics had only 28. This could cost students nearly 10 marks in the examination,” said a mathematics lecturer on the condition of anonymity.
Raj Paswan, a non-medical student of Government Senior Secondary School, PAU, who appeared for the exam at Shaheed Subedar Braham Dass Sharma Government Senior Secondary Smart School, Haibowal Khurd, shared his struggle. “I had to fit three sections on one page. Eventually, I ran out of space and couldn’t attempt 12 marks worth of questions,” he said. He was expecting full marks in boards and has demanded grace marks. “In mathematics, every step counts, and squeezing three questions onto one sheet might confuse the examiner, leading to the loss of more marks,” he added.
Another student, Hartesh Gupta, echoed similar concerns. “I missed a four-mark question because of the page shortage. The paper was of moderate difficulty and the lack of space added to the woes. This year, six-mark questions were divided into multiple parts, requiring more calculations and, therefore, more space,” he said, adding that scoring a perfect 100 now seems impossible.
Meanwhile, PSEB examination controller Lovish Chawla addressed the issue, stating that students were informed about the number of pages in advance. “The instructions on the OMR sheets clearly mention the number of pages in the answer sheets. All students received the same booklet, and it was their responsibility to manage space accordingly,” he clarified.
Despite this explanation, students and teachers believe the reduced pages put many at a disadvantage, especially in a subject like mathematics, where detailed steps and calculations are crucial.