Nagpur: The easy maths version for Std X, which CBSE announced on Thursday, is an experiment that the Maharashtra state board tried for a decade before scrapping it last year. The 2018 SSC board exam was the last one which had General Mathematics as an option for students who perceived the subject as a killer one.The easy maths experiment in state had less than 10% students opting for it with pass percentage being lower than that of the regular format.The state’s experiment differed from that of CBSE in a major way. The state actually had two different subjects (General Math and Mathematics), while CBSE has just one subject but two versions of the question paper (Standard and Basic).From the moment Maharashtra started the General Maths experiment, it was opposed by a key stakeholder. The Mathematic Teachers Association (MTA) had voiced its concerns with the government in 2007 itself, when it was introduced, saying “it was simply a bad idea”.Association president Purshottam Panchbhai said, “The experiment died a natural death because it was doomed to fail. The concept of easy version is illogical and only sounds good in power point presentations, but fails miserably when implemented on the ground. Mathematics is a logic oriented subject and unless you grasp the basics, it does not matter what level you study at.”Statistics too seem to agree with MTA’s assessment as General Mathematics failed to catch up both in numbers as well as results. Since at least 2013, the number of students opting for General Mathematics has gone down annually.Panchbhai said, “90% of students have been opting for regular Mathematics only. I believe the low popularity is a result of students being aware that they cannot choose maths in Std XI if they opted for General Maths in Std X.”With many schools having just half a dozen or so students choosing General Maths, it became a problem for teaching too. A senior board official, who retired recently, said this was one of the major reasons that teachers were protesting. “Teachers loose interest if there are just four kids sitting in a class. And even those four students have absolutely no interest in maths. Maybe it was a good idea but was not promoted well,” he said.While Panchbhai disagrees that teachers had any role to play in the experiment’s failure, he is convinced that CBSE has found the perfect solution. “One subject, two different exams is ideal. Let teachers explain the same concepts from the same book to students throughout the year. If a student still opts for the easy version, it is the teacher’s failure. Giving an easy option from day one was the wrong way to go about this,” he said.INFORMATION GFX2018 SSC Exam: Numbers not in favour of easy maths in MaharashtraStudents who opted for normal maths paper | 16.74 lakhPass percentage | 89.13%Students who opted for General Maths (easy) paper | 72,000Pass percentage | 79.55%

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