New NCF for School Education calls for two board exams
The Education Ministry in India is working on launching a National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education in line with the National Education Policy of 2020. The framework proposes conducting two board exams per year for classes X and XII. Schools will be divided into four phases: foundation, preparatory, middle and secondary.
GK/ Students appear in board examinations for class 10th at an examination Center in Srinagar. |
By Aditya Wadhawan -
The Education Ministry is working to launch the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education, in sync with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The new NCF for School Education has proposed to bring in a system of conducting two board exams in a year for classes X and XII.
Also, as per the newly formed NCF, schooling would be divided into four phases that are the foundation stage, preparatory stage, middle stage, and secondary stage. Various educational bodies under the Education Ministry are planning a roadmap to conduct the board exams twice a year, which will include objective and subjective questions to test the competency of the students.
Speaking to Education Times, a source in NCERT on the condition of anonymity, says, “The newly formed NCF has called for conducting the board exams twice a year, but the various boards would be required to decide at what time of the year they want to conduct them. Generally, all the state boards follow whatever the CBSE decides with certain minor changes.
The different boards might decide to conduct the board exams twice a year depending upon the preparation level of the students as conducting on-demand exams is in sync with the objectives of NEP 2020. Boards would also need to ensure that the board exams that are conducted are stress-free for the students and more weightage is given to the school assessment.”
Aarti Bakshi, member, Life Skills Committee, CBSE, says, “Conducting two board exams would give students a chance to better their academic results if they are not able to deliver good performance in the first chance. By appearing twice in the board exams, students would be better equipped to deal with the entrance exams that are conducted after class XII. The two board exams would affirmatively affect the average board results every year.”
“However, several administrative challenges can occur if two board exams are conducted as increased manpower would be required to assess the board answer sheets twice. This would also mean an extra workload for the teachers,” adds Bakshi.
Source: Times of India (TOI)/ Agencies