New Delhi: In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Monday announced a special assessment scheme for the board exams of Classes 10 and 12, for the academic session 2021-22.
Similar to last academic year, the syllabus for board classes will be rationalised this year as well, the CBSE notification said. Details of the rationalised syllabus will be shared by the board later this month.
The decision to come up with a special assessment scheme has been taken after the board had to cancel Class 10 and 12 exams for the academic session 2020-21 due to the pandemic. The exam initially scheduled for May was delayed and eventually cancelled.
The board said that the cancellation of 2020-21 board exams “necessitated deliberations over alternative ways to look at the learning objectives as well as the conduct of the Board Examinations for the academic session 2021-22 in case the situation remains unfeasible”.
The CBSE also gave four different scenarios for conducting examination for the 2021-22 academic session, depending upon the Covid situation.
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Syllabus division
According to the notification, the academic session 2021-22 will be divided into two terms, with 50 per cent syllabus in each term.
“The syllabus for the Academic session 2021-22 will be divided into 2 terms by following a systematic approach by looking into the interconnectivity of concepts and topics by the Subject Experts and the Board will conduct examinations at the end of each term on the basis of the bifurcated syllabus,” the notice said.
The first term exams will be held in November-December while the second term exams will take place in March-April.
The board also said that after consultations with various stakeholders including government and private schools, it came to the conclusion that syllabus rationalisation should be done this year as well, especially with schools conducting online classes.
“…efforts will be made to make Internal Assessment/ Practical/ Project work more credible and valid as per the guidelines and Moderation Policy to be announced by the Board to ensure fair distribution of marks,” it said.
Schools will continue teaching in distance mode till the authorities permit in-person mode of teaching.
Four scenarios for exams
In case the Covid situation improves and schools are allowed to open up, the board would conduct Term I and Term II examinations at schools/centres and the theory marks will be distributed equally between the two exams.
In case the pandemic forces closure of schools over the entire year, and the candidates take Term I and II exams from home, the results would be computed on the basis of the internal assessment/practical/project work and theory marks, subject to moderation or other measures to ensure validity and reliability of the assessment.
In two other scenarios when either Term I or Term II is conducted from home, the marks of the other term conducted at schools will be increased to adjust the result accordingly.
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