Class X board exams may go

Govt for uniform tests across the country

Unveiling his 100-day plan on Thursday, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said the government would like to make the Class X board examinations optional.
“By a single board, a student can decide which university he wants to go. It is happening in the law courses. The aim is to reduce the trauma,” he told reporters here.

Noting that students and their parents spent sleepless nights during board examinations, Sibal said the government wanted to make secondary-level examinations optional for students wishing to continue in the same school.

“If a student wants to go for pre-university course, he may appear for the Class X board exam. But in case of a student pursuing the course in the same school, he need not appear in the exam for promotion to Class XI,” he said, adding that an internal assessment would suffice.

Regulatory body

The government also plans to set up autonomous overarching authority for higher education and research based on the recommendations of the Yashpal committee and the National Knowledge Commission. “The body would subsume regulatory bodies like University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education and Medical Council of India,” he said. The body would be an independent authority and formulate policies on all aspects of higher education.

Sibal argued in favour of evolving a consensus for establishing an All India Madarsa Board, even though his predecessor Arjun Singh failed to make any breakthrough in this regard due to opposition from a section of the minority community.

Apart from evolving a National Curriculum Framework for Teachers’ Education, the Centre would explore possibilities of setting up an independent, accreditation body in the area of school education.

Among the several legislative initiatives that the Government would like to take up, Sibal mentioned a law to prevent, prohibit and penalise educational malpractices and another to regulate entry and operation of foreign educational providers.

Education loans

Sibal said the government was interested in a legislation to establish a tribunal for fast-track adjudication of disputes involving stakeholders, including teachers, students, employees and management in higher education. Apart from launching a new scheme of interest subsidy on educational loans taken for professional courses by the economically weaker students, the Minister announced the proposal to formulate a new policy on distance learning.