Biannual exams

THE Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has taken the lead in making a provision for holding exams for Classes X and XII twice a year from the 2024-25 academic session. The first set of exams is proposed to be conducted in November-December and if some students think that they could have done better, they can take the exam in February-March to improve their performance, with the best scores being counted as the final result. This is in sync with the changes envisaged in the national curriculum framework as per the National Education Policy, 2020.

Having two options is expected to negate one adverse effect of the present system: the stress and anxiety associated with a single, make-or-break exam. It is this pressure that has pushed many students to the brink and even forced some to end their life. The CBSE step is also intended to steer children away from rote learning and comprehensively assess their command of fundamental academic concepts and skills. Allowing students the flexibility to choose their subjects rather than confining themselves to the traditional streams of science, commerce and humanities is another laudable reform.

This revamp of the school education system would be successful if it achieves its objectives and makes assessment and evaluation fair and equitable, bringing students from underprivileged sections of society on a par with their peers from better-off families. Bridging the yawning gap between the two groups is imperative for the country to reap the demographic dividend. As the education framework ultimately shifts to a modular system for all classes, the problems faced by a large proportion of teenaged students, whose basic reading, writing and computing skills are poor, may also be addressed.

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