CBSE has now introduced a "uniform pattern" of examinations and assessment for all its schools.
Close on the heels of making the Class 10 examination compulsory again, the Central Board of Secondary Education or CBSE has now introduced a "uniform pattern" of examinations and assessment for all its schools. For parents with children in Class 6 and above, these changes will be significant.
Uniform assessment means schools - public and private - will have to adhere to a common CBSE template for exam papers. Scoring and marking patterns will be the same. Exams will happen at the same intervals.
Also, while earlier 60 per cent of the assessment was pen-paper tests and 40 per cent was for evaluation by teachers based on various extra-curricular activities, now, the ratio has been changed to 90:10.
The new report cards for classes 6 to 8 will be identical with a CBSE logo which will specify semesters, books studied, marks scored in each subject and the corresponding grades. This means two annual exams in addition to periodic tests.
The format changes in Class 9 where a student who gets the lowest grade i.e. 'E' will be detained. Up to Class 8, no student can be detained.
"The new format is a gradual movement towards quality education through standardisation of teaching, assessment, examination and report card," said R K Chaturvedi, CBSE chairperson.
The government feels the move will also ensure ease of migration of students from one to another of the nearly 19,000 CBSE-affiliated schools in India. Schools, still processing the information, were not ready to comment on the issue.