Coimbatore: More than 15 ,000 Class IX students in government schools in the district had to write a ‘surprise test’ on Thursday afternoon.The test was not any normal class test with questions from textbooks, but a comprehensive aptitude test that sought to assess their analytical aptitude, general knowledge and behavioural skills.Conducted for the first time by the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan under the ministry of human resource development, the test was aimed at assessing not only the aptitude but also the personality of the students. A total of 15,028 Class IX students in both Tamil and English medium in government schools took the test.The paper had 70 questions on scientific concepts, numerical aptitude, social sciences, behavioural assessment, art and an area of interest. Each question carried four marks and the paper was for 280 marks.The behavioural assessment questions were a set of queries on how they would behave in classrooms when confronted by teachers, how they interact with their friends and family and how much time they spend with gadgets.The questions were graded with marks according to the answer. “We also collected the students’ background details in an effort to assess the aptitude and behavioural skills of students from different backgrounds,” said a Samagra Shiksha official.The students wrote the test in optical mark recognition sheets. The schools will evaluate them using the answer key provided and upload the data online. “Based on the results, we would plan more programmes and schemes for the students in the coming academic year,” the official added.

Stay updated with all the Coimbatore Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.