CBSE’s decision on biannual exams for Class X gets a thumbs down

The recent move of the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) regarding conducting biannual board examination for Class X from 2026 onwards has not gone down well with academicians, students as well as parents.

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While the board authorities claim that the move is in sync with the National Education Policy (NEP) and help in reducing students stress by providing them with a second chance to improve their results, teachers and principals are apprehensive that this could further cut down working days for the particular batch.

Says Rachna Monga, Principal of Sanskriti KMV School, said, “Already working days for school students are so less. By holding two board exams in a year, an extra month will be lost. Since the CBSE has so many subjects to offer, its date sheet is very long to accommodate all subjects. This means that for the next session, we will have a month less to teach our students in Class XI. Even after examination, teachers will again get busy with second round of board checking. So, practically at least 45 days of the next session will be gone which may not be practically feasible.”

Teachers in the city say that after Class X examination, students are given provisional admission in schools and their Class XI studies start. “There is a lot of dilemma and discussion on how to cope up with the system. So as this happens, will students again prepare for improvement of Class X score or they enrol in Class XI to brace up with the tougher and new course? We know that majority of students will not avail the second attempt. But there could be few borderline students wanting to give it a try again,” said Rashmi Vij, Principal of Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar.

Vij said even though there was no clarity yet, but it was expected that there would be no compartment examination. Principals are also of the opinion that the board would first declare result of the first attempt and then give few days to students to decide on whether they want to opt for the second attempt to improve their score.

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