Has study stress been getting to you lately? What if you could skip your class X board exams altogether? And when you got to the class XII boards, you could give them over a period of two years, opting for specific papers at each sitting!

While all these ideas seem like a dream come true, they may materialise if the National Council of Education Research and Training gets their way. With a view to reducing students' anxiety levels associated with examination stress, the body's focus group on examination reforms has come up with two major suggestions, and forwarded them to the Central Board of Secondary Education, and state examination boards.

First off, they feel that students intending to study beyond class X need not take the class X board exams, unless they want to appear as a matter of personal choice. The body's second recommendation is for class XII -- they think it would be more advisable to spread the class XII board examinations over a two year period. Students could then appear for particular papers at particular sittings, held three to four times each year.

The focus group's member secretary, Avtar Singh, has stated that the NCERT is looking at ultimately doing away with the pass/ fail system of assessment, and is at present requesting all schools to do away with this form of grading till class XII.  It has also been suggested that each school hire a counsellor to help students cope with stress.

Come share your perspectives regarding these recommendations. We invite students, parents, and academic pofessionals to post their feedback regarding the issue.