The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is learnt to be considering a significant compression of its Class 10 board examination period from the usual month-long schedule to less than two weeks in order to accommodate a two-exam system starting next year.
Currently, the Board prepares the Class 10 exam schedule in a way that no two subjects chosen by a student fall on the same date. This effectively translates into a month-long schedule with a gap of anything between three to even 10 days between two papers at times. This year, for instance, the Class 10 board exams began on February 15 and will continue till March 18.
However, if the two-exam system is to be introduced, CBSE may have to reduce the gap between papers considerably, maybe even to a day, to ensure both exams are held and all results declared by June, said sources. This could mean that the exams will be squeezed into a week or 10-day period.
The issue was discussed at a recent meeting chaired by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan with officials of the CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and NCERT on conducting the board exams twice a year.
The Board has been asked by the Education Ministry to share a draft schema — on how the two exams will be conducted — in the public domain for feedback. Suggestions will be considered before a final schedule is prepared, it is learnt.
To begin with, the Union government wants to introduce two board exams for just Class 10 students of CBSE-affiliated schools. “A decision on when to introduce this for Class 12 students will only be taken based on the experience of holding two exams for Class 10 students,” said a government official.
THE National Education Policy, 2020, envisages moving away from high-stakes exams and proposes biannual board exams to provide students with more opportunities. In line with this, the Education Ministry has asked the CBSE to prepare a proposal for holding two exams per year.
The board exams usually begin in February, and this timeframe will likely continue with the new two-exam system, with sources noting that conducting tests earlier would be challenging due to harsh winter conditions in some regions and would potentially reduce teaching time.
Among the scheduling options being considered by the Board is a declaration of results of the first exam by March — two months earlier than the current May timeline — while the second exam would likely be held in early May with results expected in June.
The National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023, which is based on the National Education Policy 2020, states that all students will be allowed to take board exams “on at least two occasions during any given school year, with only the best score being retained.”
In 2023, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that appearing for the exams twice a year would be optional, and the intention was to reduce stress.
Ahead of implementation, the CBSE, which is the largest national school board in the country, has been attempting to address the challenge of conducting both exams, completing evaluation of papers and announcing results before the next academic session begins.
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