KATHMANDU: The Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) today launched 10 books containing the answers of top five scorers in Grade XI and XII board exams. This is the first time any exam regulatory body in the country has ever made public the answers of examinees.

The compilations are on Population Studies, Economics, Child Development and Learning, Introduction to Education, Accountancy and Chemistry. Addressing a function organised to unveil the books here, HSEB vice chairman Prof Upendra Kumar Koirala said the collections would help teachers and students alike by exhibiting to them the best answers in the lot. "This noble initiative will encourage students to put originality into their answers. I believe the collections will also help students clear up confusions regarding the examination and understand the techniques of writing answers," he added. The HSEB exams start from April 29 this year.

Minister for Education Sarvendra Nath Shukla said HSEB's action was a step towards imparting quality education at the higher secondary level. "A student can now judge one's ability against published answers," he remarked, urging the regulatory body to make the publications available to students in all parts of the country." I suggest that HSEB felicitate the 10 best performers in the exams it conducts," he added.

The books will be distributed by Buddha Academic Enterprises in Anamnagar, Kathmandu. Koirala said the distributor was the most eligible bidder while the commission HSEB earns through sale would be spent on making educational materials available for students in remote areas. "This is a beginning. We'll publish selected answers of all subjects from next year," he said.

Koirala said the Board would also publish textbooks, Nepali to start with. Students and teachers of Higher Secondary schools largely depend on reference books, resulting in lack of uniformity in the teaching and learning of courses. There are prescribed textbooks for a few subjects like English. Another drawback of HSEB is that it has no teachers in its fold and no training for higher secondary teachers.