“The question related to the assembly and disassembly of parts of a machine. But, the diagram and the dimensions didn’t match. I wasted several minutes on it before realising that there was something wrong with the question itself. I am glad that the board is awarding us full marks for it.”

A CBSE official said, “It was brought to our notice that this particular question was erroneous and a decision was taken to make up for the mistake.”

“This subject’s marks will be looked at during admission to an architecture course at the undergraduate level. Also, the subject is an integral part of competitive examinations,”

The board arrived at the decision to award grace marks to candidates who attempted that question after a four-day meeting with subject experts and teachers since there was no fault on the part of the students, said the CBSE official.

A principal of a school at Ghatkopar was surprised at the board’s magnanimity. “Even in the past, there have been several mistakes in this paper. But, this is the first time that the board has decided to act on it. On the day of the examination on March 10 this year, several parents and students approached us with the complaint of a faulty paper. We passed on the information to the authorities concerned after our teachers went through the paper.”

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