The Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) announcement on reducing the syllabus and holding board exams twice during the 2021-22 academic year in different formats, has been welcomed by schools as a move that will reduce the uncertainty and stress that students have had to go through owing to the pandemic.
A notification from the board says the 2021-22 academic year would be divided into two terms with 50% of the syllabus to be covered in each term and board exams held at the end of each term for classes 10 and 12. Continuous internal assessments will take place for classes 9 to 12 as well.
“This is a great advantage for students and will definitely reduce their stress levels since a lot of uncertainty hinged on the one final board exam last year. Having a two-term pattern with two exams will also ensure that students do not neglect the NCERT curriculum and stay committed to preparing through the year,” said C. Satish, Director-General, ABS Group of Schools.
The board has said that the first term exam would be a 90-minute paper with MCQs which will test them on 50% of the syllabus. “While the exam pattern is a new one, students are comfortable tackling MCQ questions and they also feature prominently in several competitive exams. The move to have two term exams shows the preparedness of the CBSE to face possible disruptions that might arise owing to the pandemic,” said Ashok Shankar, General Secretary, CBSE Schools Management Association.
Mr. Ashok further pointed out that the board’s instructions include creating a student profile for all the assessments undertaken through the year and retaining the evidence in digital format which will ensure that there is some level of scrutiny and monitoring of how schools implement these changes.
Srinivasa Raghavan, principal, Bala Vidya Mandir said that they greatly appreciated the move to have two exams for students of classes 10 and 12. “Owing to the pandemic and uncertainty, a change in the term and assessment process was necessary. I personally think that students of classes 9 and 11 too, would benefit if this is extended to them,” he said.
Last year, the CBSE had announced a 30% rationalisation of syllabus and for the current academic year, the rationalised term-wise divided syllabus as well as guidelines for internal assessments will be released soon.
State Board schools await syllabus announcement
Teachers from State Board schools in Tamil Nadu meanwhile have been awaiting an announcement about the syllabus for the current academic year. Last year, the Tamil Nadu government had reduced the syllabus by nearly 40% for students of senior classes.
“Rationalising the syllabus as well as bringing in a two-term system would greatly help our students as well since the syllabus for senior students is quite lengthy and heavy,” said K.P.O. Suresh, president, Tamil Nadu Post Graduate Teachers Federation.
In a statement, the Tamil Nadu Teachers Association urged the State government to consider a semester pattern similar to that adopted by the CBSE to allay the fear and uncertainty among the students owing to the board exams during the pandemic.
