No board exam for Class X from 2011

[sajiv]

No board exam for Class X from 2011

NEW DELHI: Beginning 2011, Class X board examinations will become a thing of the past. Instead, students will be promoted to senior secondary through an internal assessment. This was announced here on Monday by Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal as a major stress-buster for school children.

Since the decision has been taken in the middle of the academic year, students in Class X this year will have to appear for the board examination as scheduled, but will be graded instead, said Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) chairman Vineet Joshi.

The students will be graded into nine categories, from exceptional to unsatisfactory.

Though initially there were indications that students changing school after Class X would have to appear for the board examination, Mr. Joshi said that instead they would appear for an online/offline/on-demand assessment and would be issued certificates on pre-printed stationery supplied by the CBSE and attested by the Board's regional offices.
Assessments

Students who may need certification of the Board at a later stage to change schools can also appear for the same assessment. It will also be available to students who want an independent assessment of their academic skills.

In place of the board exams, the CBSE has worked out a system of "Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation" (CCE). This will be done through two formative assessments per term and one end-of-term assessment. For this, the school year will be divided into two terms — first ending in October, the second in March.

The formative assessment will carry 40 per cent weight in the final assessment. This can be in the form of quizzes, conversation, interviews, projects, practical and assignments.

The final assessment graded test, worth 60 per cent, will be conducted internally with question papers made out of a Question Bank provided by the CBSE.

Besides, the Board is evolving an aptitude test which will be ready by February 2010. This is aimed at addressing the fears of parents about a "board-less" Class X.

Parents feared that in the absence of an external examination it would be difficult for students to make the correct choice of stream for higher secondary education.

The aptitude test is being designed in such a manner that a student will have taken it twice before completing secondary schooling — once at the end of Class IX and then at the end of Class X. This, along with other school records and the CCE, will help decide the subjects for Class XI.

To dispel fears about the veracity of the internal assessment — a major concern of parents — the Board has decided to put in place a mechanism for random verification of assessments done by schools. There will be provision for random sampling of the CCE certificates also.