here's good news for students appearing for their board examinations next year.

They will get 15 minutes to study the question paper before settling down to write answers; this time will not be deducted from the total time allocated for the exam.

Internal assessment in Mathematics, Sciences and Social Sciences are some of the other features planned by Central Board of Secondary Education from the next exam.

Questions papers would be set in such a way that they can be answered within two-and-a-half hours though students would have three hours to answer them.

These measures, aimed at reducing stress during exams, were part of a presentation made in New Delhi by CBSE Chairman Ashok Ganguli at a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the HRD ministry.