There was a chorus of demand for bringing back examinations for Class X which was replaced with Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation a couple of years ago

Not many would expect students to be advocating examinations but that is exactly what children from select Delhi schools told Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on Monday when she invited them to her office for their inputs on International Students Day.

And, the Minister could not hide her surprise at the chorus of demand for bringing back examinations for Class X which was replaced with Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) a couple of years ago. “It is heartening and surprising that students want examinations,’’ she said, congratulating the children for their readiness to face exams.

The main complaint against CCE was that it did not prepare them well for the competitive examinations including the school leaving boards. Also, students had complaints against textbooks prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

While Science students felt they lacked in content required for competitive examinations like the Joint Entrance Examinations for the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Pre Medical Test – thereby necessitating extra coaching that is prohibitively priced — others found the books boring and unattractive.

“So, you want the textbooks to be updated, more presentable and focussed on competitive examinations,’’ Ms. Irani summed up twice; hinting that this interaction could well be used by the Ministry to make out a case for full scale overhaul of NCERT textbooks.

With Humanities students differing on the History textbooks – some said it did not have enough on Indian history while others pointed out that this was adequately covered – the Minister quipped: “Why is there always a problem with history.’’