CBSE has announced a special assessment scheme for class 10 & 12 board exams for next year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. CBSE decides to divide Academic session into two terms with approximately 50% syllabus in each term.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to rationalize the syllabus for 2021-22 for Classes 10 and 12. COVID 19 pandemic caused almost all CBSE schools to function in a virtual mode for most of the academic session of 2020-21. Due to the extreme risk associated with the conduct of Board examinations during the second wave in April 2021, CBSE had to cancel both its class 10 and 12 Board examinations for the year 2021.
The board has announced a slew of measures for the academic session 2021-22 in line with its focus on assessing stipulated learning outcomes by making the examinations competencies and core concepts based, student-centric, transparent, technology-driven, and with an advanced provision of alternatives for different future scenarios. The board exams for the 2021 batch will be held in two terms, with a 50 percent syllabus in each Term.
Special Scheme for 2021-22
The academic session will be divided into 2 Terms with approximately 50% 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. The board will conduct examinations at the end of each Term based on the bifurcated syllabus.
Details of Curriculum Transaction
Schools will continue teaching in distance mode till the authorities permit in-person mode of teaching in schools.
Class 9 and 10: Internal Assessment (throughout the year-irrespective of Term I and II) would include the 3 periodic tests, student enrichment, portfolio and practical work/ speaking listening activities/ project.
Class 11 and 12: Internal Assessment (throughout the year-irrespective of Term I and II) would include end of topic or unit tests/ exploratory activities/ practicals/ projects.
Schools would create a student profile for all assessment undertaken over the year and retain the evidences in digital format. CBSE will facilitate schools to upload marks of Internal Assessment on the CBSE IT platform. Guidelines for Internal Assessment for all subjects will also be released along with the rationalized Term wise divided syllabus for the session 2021-22.The Board would also provide additional resources like sample assessments, question banks, teacher training etc. for more reliable and valid internal assessments.
Download the Official Notification: Special Scheme of Assessment for Board Examination Classes X and XII for the Session 2021-22
Term I Examinations:
The Board will organize Term I Examination in a flexible schedule between November-December 2021 with a window period of 4-8 weeks for schools situated in different parts of country and abroad. The Question Paper will have Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) including case-based MCQs and MCQs on the assertion-reasoning type. Duration of 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). The exams will be conducted under the supervision of the External Center Superintendents and Observers appointed by CBSE.
The responses of students will be captured on OMR sheets which, after scanning may be directly uploaded at CBSE portal or alternatively may be evaluated and marks obtained will be uploaded by the school on the very same day. The final direction in this regard will be conveyed to schools by the Examination Unit of the Board.
Term II Examination/ Year-end Examination:
This examination would be held around March-April 2022 at the examination centres fixed by the Board. The paper will be of 2 hours duration and have questions of different formats (case-based/ situation based, open ended- short answer/ long answer type). If the situation is not conducive for normal descriptive examination, a 90 minute MCQ based exam will also be conducted.
Assessment / Examination as per different situations
In case the situation of the pandemic improves and students are able to come to schools or centres for taking the exams. 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 situation of the pandemic forces complete closure of schools during November-December 2021, but Term II exams are held at schools or centres. Term I MCQ based examination would be done by students online/offline from home – in this case, the weightage of this exam for the final score would be reduced, and weightage of Term II exams will be increased for declaration of final result.
In case the situation of the pandemic forces complete closure of schools during March-April 2022, but Term I exams are held at schools or centres. Results would be based on the performance of students on Term I MCQ based examination and internal assessments. The weightage of marks of Term I examination conducted by the Board will be increased to provide year end results of candidates.
In case the situation of the pandemic forces complete closure of schools and Board conducted Term I and II exams are taken by the candidates from home in the session 2021-22. Results would be computed on the basis of the Internal Assessment/Practical/Project Work and Theory marks of Term-I and II exams taken by the candidate from home in Class X / XII subject to the moderation or other measures to ensure validity and reliability of the assessment.
In all the above cases, data analysis of marks of students will be undertaken to ensure the integrity of internal assessments and home based exams.
