India's education board CBSE to restore pre-pandemic format for board exams
Two phases nor flexible practical pattern will be available for students from next year
New Delhi: India's Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to restore the pre-pandemic single-exam format from the next academic year, news reports said quoting Ministry of Education sources.
The CBSE has bifurcated the board exams (Class 10 and Class 12) into two different phases for the academic session of 2021-22.
Following instructions from the ministry, the CBSE is to restore the pre-pandemic format of board exams from next year, meaning neither two phases nor flexible practical pattern will be available for the students.
A report quoting a senior official in the ministry, said the single term board exams for Class 10 and Class 12 may return from the 2022-23 academic session.
For the present academic session, the first phase of board exams was completed in December last year. According to the CBSE, the second phase of exams will start from April 26 in offline mode.
In 2020 and 2021, the board exams could not be conducted owing to the pandemic, according to reports.
The decision was taken after the board exams for the 2020-21 academic year had to be cancelled due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were evaluated on their scores in previous exams, practical exams and internal assessments.
According to a senior official, the board decided to restore the single-exam pattern after receiving representations from schools. “CBSE never announced that the two-term exam format will be continued henceforth. It was a one-time formula. Now that schools are functioning in full capacity, the decision, for now, is to stick to the one-time exam format,” the official was quoted as saying.