CBSE has extended deadline for PSA

November 5, 2013, 12:18 pm


The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has extended the deadline forproblem solving assessment (PSA) scores for students to get one more chance at improving their . The schools can now submit details of the students online till November 15. Several CBSE schools in the state that had missed the deadline had approached the board in this regard.

Confirming this Confederation of Kerala Sahodaya Complexes president Unnikrishnan K said, "Several schools in Kerala reported that they couldn’t ensure that the students got to improvetheir PSAscorein standardX.Asthelastdatefor the samewasover,theCBSE’s regional office in Chennai refused to accept the application. We had to then approach the CBSE chairman."

Now, students who haven’t fared well in class IX will have the option of improving their PSA score in Class X. They can sit for the test with Class IX students of session 2013-14 in January 2014. The best scores will be reflected in the final certificatein caseof those applying for improvement.

The test focuses on three specific areas -- quantitative reasoning, qualitative reasoning, and language conventions. Quantitative reasoning includes mathematics and science. Qualitative reasoning includes reasoning seen in humanities, arts and social sciences subjects.

Language conventions includes different aspects of written communication (grammar, vocabulary, etc).

Most importantly, the PSA will be counted towards formative assessment-4 (FA-4) which is 10% of total assessments of Class IX. This assessment will also be carried forward towards the FA-4 in Class X. This score will be reflected in one language (English or Hindi), mathematics, science, and social science with effect from session 2012-13 for Class IX and 2013-14 for Class X. The same score will be reflectedin FA-4for classIX and Class X.

Meanwhile, confusion also prevails over the marking pattern in PSA. "We don’t have clear instructions on the manner in which marking should be done in PSA. While some are taking the total sum of the marks scored in the three areas, others are giving individual marks. This can lead to a difference in scores," said Delta Study school, Fort Kochi, principal Saroja Muralikrishnan.