State board Class 10 students to have mobile-based aptitude tests

MUMBAI: For the first time, students studying in Class 10 of the state board would write aptitude tests on a mobile phone from the current academic year. The announcement was made in a recent circular released by the state education department.

The 90-minute test would, for the first time, also test students on various aptitude scales and not merely on the basis of their interest in a particular subject as done earlier. Schools would have to arrange for the smartphones on their own.

Over the last three years, the state education department has been conducting ‘Kal chachani’ (aptitude test) with the help of Shyamchi Aai Foundation to help students pick their careers after passing the board exams. Until now, the tests were administered

online with schools using their computers for the task. However, from the current academic year schools would use smartphones.

After logging into the linkbased application with the Unified District Information System for Education number (U-DISE), which is a database of information about schools in India., a list of all the eligible students from the school would appear. Teachers can then administer the test on their phones to students one after the other.

“We had conducted a pilot project in Satara to check if this test can be administered with the help of smartphones and the results were amazing. Children are more comfortable with smartphones these days which makes the experience easier,” said Sheetal Bapat, founder-director, Shyamchi Aai Foundation. This year, students would get their test results immediately after they write their board exams so that they get time to explore their career options.

“The app would also have an offline mode in case schools face connectivity issues. The data entered can be uploaded when there is network,” said Bapat