According to the minutes of the October 28 meeting, accessed by Indian Express, the OBTA proposal was first made by Sanjay Patwa, a representative of the Madhya Pradesh Board, who felt that the Open-Book Test idea would help to reduce the influence of coaching classes. Endorsing his suggestion, the school education secretary asked the boards to consider integrating OBTA as a section of their question papers for Classes XI-XII. Open Book based examination is a good point for consideration as the test will not be based on memory but on comprehensive and understanding. In such a format, rote learning will not work as the pattern of questions will focus on thinking. A CBSE official shared the process OBTA currently followed by the board for Classes IX & XI. In CBSE schools, students in Classes IX & XI are provided with text materials month ahead of their final examination. They are allowed to refer to this at the time of taking the examination.
The government also suggested that the boards should avoid giving grave marks to students and they should prepare a policy for awarding grace marks.
Source: http://goo.gl/kfrces
