Subject-Specific Content Knowledge (chosen teaching subject)
What Paper II tests
This domain carries the largest single weight of the licence examination: the subject paper. Items are drawn from the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) textbooks for grades 6–8 and from the grades 9–10 content that underpins them, so you must solve problems, explain concepts and anticipate the errors children make.
Core content to command
- Mathematics: number system, ratio and proportion, unitary method, percentage, profit and loss, simple interest, algebraic expressions, linear equations, mensuration, basic statistics.
- Science: measurement, force and motion, matter, living systems, electricity, earth and space; distinguish observation from inference.
- Languages and Social Studies: text comprehension, grammar accuracy, chronology of Nepali history, civic institutions.
Worked example
Rs 12,000 is divided between two teachers in the ratio 3 : 5. What is the larger share? Total parts = 3 + 5 = 8. Value of one part = 12,000 ÷ 8 = 1,500. Larger share = 5 × 1,500 = Rs 7,500. Check: 3 × 1,500 = 4,500, and 4,500 + 7,500 = 12,000.
Traps that cost marks
- Stopping at the value of one part (1,500), which is planted as a distractor.
- Reading 3 : 5 as three-fifths of the whole instead of 3 parts out of 8.
- Unit slips: cm versus m, grams versus kilograms, minutes versus hours.
- In science, confusing mass with weight, or heat with temperature.
Exam craft
Use the rough-work space for numerical items and verify by substitution. In explanation items, name the concept, state the rule, then apply it to the given case.