CBSE likely to phase out Class 10th Board examinations
Examinations, if the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is to be believed, are surplus to school education.
First, they made the Class X Board examinations optional, and now, are keen to phase them out altogether.
As a first step in this direction, the CBSE is currently comparing and analysing the results of the Class X school-based examination with the Board exam held in March this year.
Speaking to MAIL TODAY, CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi said: "At the time we made the exam optional, parents were quite apprehensive and felt that scoring in the school-based exam will be much easier than the Boards. But the outcome of our initial comparison is quite encouraging. There's hardly any difference between the results of the two examinations."
If the Board, through tools of statistical analysis, can establish that there's no difference between taking the two examinations, then it will use this analysis to advocate for scrapping of the Board exam entirely. This analysis could take another two months to complete. The chairman, however, did not elaborate on whether this could be implemented for the current batch of class X students who will appear for their final exam in March, next year.
In 2009, the Union minister for human resource development Kapil Sibal had announced the landmark decision to make CBSE Class X Boards optional in future. The batch of 2010-11 is the first one to benefit from this decision, which was taken to de-stress school students.
But just as this decision was meant only for schools that are of higher secondary level (read: up to Class XII), CBSE's plan to scrap Class X Boards will also apply to the same category. In other words, secondary schools or schools up to Class X will have to continue taking the Board exams.
"This plan is based on the feedback we received from the parents. They feel that there is discrimination between students who took the school- based and Board exam and this can only be done away with if we discontinue the dual mode and switch one system completely," Joshi said.
"We could not have abolished the Board examination altogether because, it would have been too much for the parents to handle. We had to give them some time to get familiar with the change and accept it. But continuing in the dual mode puts burden on the CBSE," a CBSE official, who did not wish to be identified, said.
So this year, almost 5.5 lakh students - or 56 per cent - of the total 9.8 lakh exercised their choice of staying away from the Board- conducted examination. Once the plan to scrap Board examination completely (for higher secondary schools) is implemented, then CBSE officials expect the percentage of students taking schoolbased exam to increase from 56 per cent to almost 75 per cent of the total.
But with the Maharashtra government refusing to accept the school- based exam for admission to its junior colleges, wouldn't this plan affect a larger number of students adversely? " I know many school principals in other states who are under a lot of pressure as their students are not being easily admitted in other schools affiliated to the respective state board. If CBSE is keen to scrap Class X boards altogether, then it has to take the state government's help before the school- based results are announced, so that students face no trouble at the time of admission," Ameeta Wattal, principal, Springdales School, Pusa Road said.
"This is an administrative problem and will be sorted out at our end. Students need not worry at all as we will take care of such problems even in the future," an official said.
Indian express
First, they made the Class X Board examinations optional, and now, are keen to phase them out altogether.
As a first step in this direction, the CBSE is currently comparing and analysing the results of the Class X school-based examination with the Board exam held in March this year.
Speaking to MAIL TODAY, CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi said: "At the time we made the exam optional, parents were quite apprehensive and felt that scoring in the school-based exam will be much easier than the Boards. But the outcome of our initial comparison is quite encouraging. There's hardly any difference between the results of the two examinations."
If the Board, through tools of statistical analysis, can establish that there's no difference between taking the two examinations, then it will use this analysis to advocate for scrapping of the Board exam entirely. This analysis could take another two months to complete. The chairman, however, did not elaborate on whether this could be implemented for the current batch of class X students who will appear for their final exam in March, next year.
In 2009, the Union minister for human resource development Kapil Sibal had announced the landmark decision to make CBSE Class X Boards optional in future. The batch of 2010-11 is the first one to benefit from this decision, which was taken to de-stress school students.
But just as this decision was meant only for schools that are of higher secondary level (read: up to Class XII), CBSE's plan to scrap Class X Boards will also apply to the same category. In other words, secondary schools or schools up to Class X will have to continue taking the Board exams.
"This plan is based on the feedback we received from the parents. They feel that there is discrimination between students who took the school- based and Board exam and this can only be done away with if we discontinue the dual mode and switch one system completely," Joshi said.
"We could not have abolished the Board examination altogether because, it would have been too much for the parents to handle. We had to give them some time to get familiar with the change and accept it. But continuing in the dual mode puts burden on the CBSE," a CBSE official, who did not wish to be identified, said.
So this year, almost 5.5 lakh students - or 56 per cent - of the total 9.8 lakh exercised their choice of staying away from the Board- conducted examination. Once the plan to scrap Board examination completely (for higher secondary schools) is implemented, then CBSE officials expect the percentage of students taking schoolbased exam to increase from 56 per cent to almost 75 per cent of the total.
But with the Maharashtra government refusing to accept the school- based exam for admission to its junior colleges, wouldn't this plan affect a larger number of students adversely? " I know many school principals in other states who are under a lot of pressure as their students are not being easily admitted in other schools affiliated to the respective state board. If CBSE is keen to scrap Class X boards altogether, then it has to take the state government's help before the school- based results are announced, so that students face no trouble at the time of admission," Ameeta Wattal, principal, Springdales School, Pusa Road said.
"This is an administrative problem and will be sorted out at our end. Students need not worry at all as we will take care of such problems even in the future," an official said.
Indian express
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