The State Board of Technical Education and Training (SBTET) is planning to implement the open-book examination system for students in diploma courses from the next academic year in Telangana. The first-of-its-kind arrangement will begin in 2021, where students currently enrolled in the specific course, as well as those who take a fresh admission, are eligible to appear for these.
The preliminary work for the same is underway, according to the SBTET officials. After the proposal’s implementation, students will be permitted to appear for the examination, carrying a textbook. However, they can only get one textbook of the particular subject prescribed by the board.
The SBTET itself will formulate the format of the examination, according to which, the process will get executed.
Initially, the system will be implemented for a few subjects only which are a part of the curriculum of diploma courses offered in polytechnic institutions. Both the present students and the new admits, joining the college for 2021-2022 are applicable for this.
Speaking about the new program whose groundwork is being completed, an official of the Commissionerate of Technical Education said, “Work on the open-book examination system is being done by the board, and we are planning to implement it from 2021-22. Initially, it will be for a few subjects in diploma courses, for instance like drawing, computers, and mathematics. An open-book examination does not mean that students can carry all the textbooks they want to in the examination hall. They must carry only the textbook that is prescribed by the board.”
Nearly 75,000 students belonging to polytechnic colleges are getting evaluated in the state through offline mediums, officials said. These offline methods involve the traditional system of writing theory exams.
Although this open-book examination is likely to be introduced only for diploma course students as of now, the Board authorities are planning to start the same for engineering students as well.
“The way of assessment of students has to be changed. Initially, it will be for diploma courses and later on, it is likely to be extended to some subjects in engineering courses too,” the official added.
An open book examination, while allowing students to bring a book with themselves in the exam hall itself, can pose a difficulty because the questions in the test require higher-order thinking. This was initially started to remove the rote-learning method followed by many students.
