Educators praise new CBSE scheme

The rationalised syllabus splits academic session into two terms with board exams at the end of each term

On Monday, the CBSE announced that the upcoming academic session for 10th and 12th standard will be divided into two terms and board exams will be held at the end of each term.

The first term exams will be held in November-December 2021, based on the 50% syllabus allocated, while the second term exams will be conducted in March-April 2022, covering the remaining part of the syllabus. The board will follow a new ‘rationalised syllabus’, which will be announced later this month.

The first term exams will include multiple choice questions (MCQ), both case-based and assertion-reasoning types and the duration of the exams will be 90 minutes.

However, the second term exams will be of two-hour duration and will be descriptive, will have questions in different formats including case-based, situation-based, open-ended, short and long-answer type.

“This is a welcome change. It will definitely benefit students as it saves them from cognitive overload and allows them to focus on growing specific skillsets,” says Shanthi Seetharaman, principal, CBSE wing, Vishwa Vidyapeeth, Singanayakanahalli.

She believes bifurcation of board exams into two parts, allows children to develop specific skills required to take both objective and descriptive exams.

“This will definitely help students to get prepared to take part in competitive exams in the future, as many of them are objective-based exams,” she adds.

“The new board exam pattern was not something we expected but I’m happy about the change as I believe it will help me prepare for competitive exams in the future,” agrees a 10th standard student from a Bengaluru east-based school.

Renu Elizabeth Benny, principal, National Public School, Jalahalli, says to launch an MCQ exam, the concepts need to be clear, as options can often be similar and confusing.

“Both the board and the teachers at school will have to put in efforts to ensure that concepts are clear,” she adds.

She believes that the change in the assessment format has come at the right time, leaving teachers and students with time to prepare.

“As it is just the start of a new academic year, it leaves the students and teachers with enough time to prepare for the exams. The teachers need to start training students early as they are normally used to writing descriptive exams, so this will be new territory for them,” she says.

In addition to change in board exams, efforts will be made to make internal assessment, practical, project work more credible and valid as per guidelines.

A moderation policy will be announced by the board to ensure fair distribution of marks, says a circular by the CBSE.

Jija Lakshmanan, teacher at Silicon City Academy of Secondary Education, Konanakunte, hopes that CBSE will stick to the new plan. “If the exam and syllabus keep changing it becomes difficult for teachers to adapt first and then get our students to adapt as well,” she says. She is hoping to receive clearer instructions from the board about the syllabus and question paper pattern.

The school conducted a meeting with parents and students to inform them about the new assessment format. “Many parents have requested a pre-board exam in September to ensure the kids are well-acquainted with the new format,” she adds. Ananthika R, a 12th standard student, is disheartened by the new format.

“The pandemic has been extremely tough for us students, affecting us both mentally and physically. In a time like this, we were hoping for the board to simplify things but now we have not one but two board exams to prepare for. Right now, we needed stability, not change,” she says.