A student's idea that clicked in Bihar

In a first in the country, Bihar's State School Examination Board plans to issue a model answer sheet for students of class X and class XII two weeks after their examinations to help them get rid of stress about the result.

The news comes as a major relief for hundreds of thousands of students, who are busy preparing to appear in BSEB's examinations in 2012.

The BSEB has already announced to implement semester system in matric (Class X ) and intermediate examination (class XII) from next year.

BSEB Chairman Rajmani Prasad Sinha disclosed that idea to provide model answer sheet for students on the lines of IIT, AIEEE and other competitive examinations was given by Vishal Vivek -- one of the 30 toppers of class X and class XII invited by the board for suggestions to improve the quality of education in Bihar.

"It was Vishal's idea to issue model answer sheet to students on the pattern of other competive examinations, to reduce their tension," Sinha told rediff.com.
 
Sinha said the Board has amended the syllabus for the examinations of both classes and its format

will be multiple choice type.

Three months ago, Vishal was among the toppers of Class 10 and 12 handpicked by the state government for an ingenious initiative to better the standards of basic education in a state that occupies the bottom berth in the national literacy rate rankings.

Some toppers gave good suggestions during their meeting with top officials and educational experts in Patna on Wednesday that could be useful in formulating an action plan on National Education Day (November 1), which is observed on the birth anniversary of country's first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, an official said.

Earlier this year, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had directed the Human Resources Development department to constitute the 'Baal Parishad' (children's council) comprising boys and girls who topped in Class 10 and Class 12 examinations.

The chief minister recently stated that over 2.5 million children in the age group of 6-14 were "out of school" in 2006, but their number has gradually declined and now come down to 600,000.

The 2011 Census records the literacy rate in Bihar at 63.8 per cent while the national average is 74 per cent.