CBSE’s advance planning is welcome

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has done well to prepare an assessment scheme for Classes 10 and 12 for the 2021-22 academic year. Since the plan is known at the beginning of the academic session, students, teachers and school authorities will be able to prepare for the challenges in the session. Parents, who are also stakeholders, will also know what to look forward to. It is difficult to predict how the session will turn out to be, but it is certain that there will be challenges. One major problem for everyone last year was that decisions were put off till the end. As assessment scheme for Class 12 was drawn up very late, and that too after the matter figured in the Supreme Court. Much of the difficulties and stress gone through by students and others could have been avoided if the decisions had been taken earlier.

The scheme provides a road map for the coming year. It seems to take into consideration the large variations across the country, like the differences in the type of school, the facilities available and the backgrounds of students. The scheme includes a combination of internal assessments for Classes 9-10 and 11-12 and term examinations in November-December and in March-April 2022. The academic session will be divided into two terms, with approximately 50% syllabus in each term. The syllabus for the board examination will be rationalised and divided into two halves on the basis of recommendations made by subject experts. The board will conduct exams at the end of each term on the basis of the bifurcated syllabus. This is done to increase the possibility of conducting board examinations at the end of the academic session.

An important plus point of the scheme is that it takes into consideration various situations and scenarios that may emerge in the coming months, like the possibility of holding board examinations. There is also the possibility of not holding one term examination or both. The scheme is designed to cater to these various situations. It also gives many details, like how internal assessments are to be held, and what schools should do. It is very important to take into consideration issues faced by schools in different states and locations because the impact of the pandemic will likely be different in different places. Another key consideration should be the difficulties faced by students from less privileged backgrounds. Governments and other authorities and social organisations will have to address those problems more seriously and earnestly than last year. Now that the CBSE has come up with a scheme, other boards should also announce their plans to guide their students through the coming year.