CBSE set to announce schedule of new format of Class 10, 12 exams

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) of India is likely to announce this week the schedule for the new format of examinations for classes 10 and 12, Indian media have reported.

CBSE in July had announced that for classes 10 and 12, the academic year will be divided into two, - Term 1 and Term 2 - with separate examinations held at the end of each term. The first term examinations are slated for November-December while the second term examination will be held in March-April. Until this year, there was only one Board examination for these classes, conducted at the end of the academic year.

While Term 1 examinations would be held in MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) format wherein students would be asked to fill in the OMR (Optical Mark Reader) sheets, Term 2 examination will have case-based, situation-based, open-ended questions.

Ideal Indian School principal, Syed Shoukath Ali told Gulf Times that the timetable for the examinations can be expected very soon and the examinations are to take place in NovemberDecember for the first term.

“The first term examinations are conducted with multiple choice questions. The exams will be held online for a duration of one and half hours. The second term examinations will be for two hours and likely with theory questions,” he continued.

As for the syllabus for the examinations, Ali said that it will be similar to the semester system. “The portions taught in the first term will be used only for the Term 1 examination and not to test in the second term as in the previous years. The second term examination will cover only the portions taught in that term. Term 1 and Term 2 marks would be clubbed for final CBSE Board Result.”

He also noted that CBSE has not yet disclosed how the weightage of marks of each term will be allotted when the final results are declared. The final decision will be taken by the board depending on the situation and the nature of the examination in case of any Covid-19 interruption happens.

The First Term examinations will be conducted by CBSE but students can take the examinations at their own schools and not at different exam centres as in the case of previous examinations. Though students have to take two examinations, they need not register twice for the examination as the registration formalities are completed at the first instance.

Quoting Sanyam Bharadwaj, controller of examinations at CBSE , several Indian media outlets said that additional blank space or circle would be given in the OMR answer sheets for the comfort of candidates.

“While revising, if the candidate realises that they have selected the wrong choice, they can strike it off, select the correct circle and write the same in the additional blank space,” Bharadwaj told Indian media. He said that such responses will be calculated on the basis of a combination of intelligent character recognition and optical mark recognition techniques.

He added that the Term1practicals will be conducted by schools themselves. However, Term 2 practicals will be conducted by the CBSE based on the Covid situation.