Ahmedabad: The Classes 10 and 12 final exams conducted by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) began on an upbeat note, with students across the state describing the opening day’s papers as easy and scoring.At several exam centres, students were welcomed with flowers and sweets. In Ahmedabad, the city district education officer personally greeted candidates at a school in Naranpura, adding to the sense of encouragement on what is often one of the most stressful days of the academic year.Class 10 students appeared for their first language papers, including Gujarati and English. The Gujarati paper was widely described as very simple, with the grammar section considered especially straightforward. Essay topics were aligned with themes students had prepared during the academic year, allowing them to attempt answers with confidence. Many students said they felt relieved on walking out of the exam hall.The English paper for Class 10 was also rated comparatively easy. The question paper was divided into three sections: literature, grammar and writing skills. Students who had practised previous years’ question papers found the literature section manageable. The grammar section focused on commonly repeated topics, while the writing skills section included familiar formats and themes that had been emphasised during preparation.For Class 12, the general stream economics paper and the science stream physics paper were conducted on the first day. The physics paper was largely textbook-based and straightforward, with multiple-choice questions drawn directly from the syllabus. In Part B of the physics paper, theory questions carried higher weightage: 47 marks were allotted to theory-based questions and 28 marks to numerical problems, out of a total of 75 marks. Some students, however, felt the paper was slightly lengthy, particularly those who had not practised writing answers within time limits.Except for one copying case reported in Rajkot in the Class 12 general stream exam, no other malpractice cases were recorded across the state on the first day.
