Education Ministry Announces ‘Board Exams to be Conducted Twice a Year’; New Curriculum Framework Released; Check Details Here

New Delhi: The Education Ministry has launched the new curriculum framework for school education on August 23, 2023. According to the curriculum, board exams will be conducted twice a year and students will be allowed to retain the best score. 

The new curriculum framework launched by the education ministry has been designed in accordance to National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The ministry has also declared that students of Classes 11 and 12 need to study two languages of which at least one should be Indian.

"Board exams will be offered at least twice a year to ensure students have enough time and opportunity to perform well. Students can then appear for a board exam in subjects they have completed and feel ready for. They will also be allowed to retain the best score," it said.

Important Changes Made In the New Curriculum Framework:

Below mentioned are the important changes made in the new curriculum framework released by the education ministry:

• Board Exams to be conducted twice a year, students to keep the best of the two scores
• Board Exams will assess the candidate on the understanding capacity and knowledge of the candidate rather than tutoring and memorization.
• Students of Class 11,12 will get to choose any subject combinations they want.
• Boards to aim at offering ‘on demand’ exams.
• The test developers will be trained through university-certified courses.
• The practice of covering text books in class to be stopped; emphasis to be given on cost optimisation. 

Board Exams to be Conducted Twice a Year

The NCF 2023 has announced that the board exams will be conducted twice a year and the students will be allowed to keep the best of the two scores. This means that if a student is aspiring for CBSE Class 12 board exam, he/she will be able to sit for the exam held twice that year. The best score of the two exams will be considered as the final score. 

The education ministry has brought in the change to reduce the stress and pressure of achieving the best marks in one try. The students will also have the flexibility of sitting for the examination when they think they are prepared for it. 

“To further eliminate the ‘high stakes’ aspect of board examinations, all students will be allowed to take board examinations on at least two occasions during any given school year, with only the best score being retained,” the NCF says.

Students to Choose Two Compulsory Languages

The NCF 2023 has also brought in syllabus changes. Students of Class 11, 12 will have to choose two compulsory Language subjects one of which will be an Indian Language. Students will have the choice to choose from modern indian languages, classical languages and foreign languages. 

Check : Bihar Board Exam 2024

No Hard Separation

NEP 2020 gives a clear mandate to move away from the current practice of streaming into Science, Arts/Humanities, and Commerce. Instead, students can choose subjects from a variety of subjects across streams — including Art Education, Physical Education and Well-being, and Vocational Education. There will be no hard stream division like Arts, Science, or Commerce. 

Group 1 is languages. Group 2 consists of art education, physical education and vocational education. Group 3 has social science and interdisciplinary areas. Group 4 has mathematics and science.

Class 12 students will need to pick two languages from group 1 and then choose four subjects from at least two of the groups from group 2 to group 4. Subjects in group 2 – arts education, physical education and vocational education – will have local assessments instead of central assessments.

 The NCF also said that schools should be prepared to offer subjects from at least two groups amongst groups 2, 3, and 4 immediately. Within five years, schools should be ready to offer subjects from all four groups. Within 10 years, schools should offer many more subjects covering all curricular areas, and students should study subjects across all four groups.

Check: ISC Board Exam 2024

Student to be Assessed on Depth of Knowledge

Board Exams will assess the understanding and achievement of competencies rather than months of memorization. Students should have breadth and depth across multiple disciplines and depth in chosen subjects. With this NCF 2023 also states that boards including CBSE board exam 2024 and state board exams such as those by the Rajasthan board, Uttar Pradesh board, and others will have to make it easier for the students. 

“The current system of study in annual and two-year patterns should move to a semester and/or annual design. This would allow for greater flexibility in the design of courses as well as course options for students,” it said.

Check: UP Board Exam 2023

Reduced Content Load

‘Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, to make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning.’ stated NEP 2020. 

School Boards to Provide ‘on demand’ Exams in Future

The school boards will have question banks ready to enable a smooth process of conducting board exams twice a year. This will help school boards to develop the capacity to offer ‘on demand’ exams in the long run. The board exam test developers and evaluators will have to go through university-certified courses before getting to the work. 

The ministry has also taken up the pledge to abolish the age-old practice of covering textbooks in class. It has laid emphasis on optimising the cost of textbooks. The school boards have been advised to prepare the textbooks for the academic session of 2024 based on the new curriculum framework. 

Board Exams to be Replaced by ‘Modular Exams’

The National Curriculum Framework 2023 aims to eventually replace the board exams with ‘modular exams’ within the next 10 years. These modular exams will be conducted on a subject as soon as it is completed in class. NCF proposes the creation of competent assessment tools to make this process easier.

“The mode of conducting examinations should be liberalised in due course from the rigid annual examinations. Modular Examinations can be offered by boards as opposed to a single examination at the end of the year. These can be offered at different times of the year. In due course, examination boards should develop capacities to offer ‘on demand’ examinations. The final certification will be based on the cumulative result of each of the examinations,” the NCF 2023 says.

Also Read:

Latest Updates on Board Examination: Check Exam Date, Result, Compartment Exam

UGC's New Guidelines Allows Candidates to Select Two Courses Simultaneously

Subscribe to Collegedunia to get the latest educational news and updates –