The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced that it will hold two terms of board exams for students in Class 10th and 12th in the current academic session 2021-22, one in November and December and the other in March and April 2022, to prepare for any “unpredictable situation” that may arise as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic next year.
Students in the current batches of classes 10th and 12th will have to sit for two terms of board exams over the academic year, each covering half of the syllabus. After a large second wave of the Pandemic hit the country this year, the board cancelled the Class 10th and 12th exams, and students were tested using alternate assessment methods. Last year, the board had to cancel certain tests as well.
“The syllabus for the academic session 2021-22 will be divided into two terms by following a systematic approach by looking into the interconnectivity of concepts and topics by subject experts, and the Board will conduct examinations at the end of each term based on the bifurcated syllabus,” CBSE director (academics) Joseph Emmanuel said in a notification issued.
This is done to maximize the chances of a Board giving exams for classes 10th and 12th at the end of the academic year… The Board test syllabus for 2021-22 will be rationalized in the same way as the last academic session, which will be announced in July 2021.” The first test will be held on a flexible timetable between November and December 2021, with a window period of 4-8 weeks, at the end of the first term.
The notification added that “The question paper will have Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) including case-based MCQs and MCQs on the assertion-reasoning type. The duration of the test will be 90 minutes and it will cover only the rationalized syllabus of Term I only (i.e. approx. 50% of the entire syllabus),” CBSE will provide the question papers to schools along with the marking scheme, and the exams will be administered under the supervision of CBSE-appointed superintendents and observers. The results of the first-term exams will be factored into the students’ total grades.
Similarly, between March and April 2022, CBSE will hold another examination covering the remaining 50% of the course at examination centres determined by the board. “The paper will last two hours and will include questions in a variety of styles (case-based/situation-based, open ended-short response/long answer)… If the situation does not allow for a traditional descriptive test, a 90-minute MCQ-based exam will be held at the end of Term II. The ultimate overall score would be determined by the marks earned in the Term II Examination, according to the CBSE notice.
