CBSE Declares Special Assessment Scheme for Classes X, XII for the Session 21-22

On July 5, 2021, CBSE released a Special Assessment Scheme for Class 10th and Class 12th board examinations for the session 2021-22. This has been released to confront the challenges faced by CBSE last year due to the pandemic situation in the country. In a circular issued to all its affiliated schools, CBSE said that the board had to cancel both class 10th and class 12th exams of 2020-21 due to the Second wave of Covid.

Most of the privately held schools in rural areas have requested CBSE for the rationalization of the syllabus. The Board said that it has considered the problems faced by students who are from economically weaker sections. Moreover, CBSE also mentioned that many schools from remote areas are unable to fully utilize the online mode of education due to the lack of availability of electronic gadgets, connectivity and effectiveness of online teaching. Considering all this and the ongoing crisis of Covid-19, CBSE has listed down a few changes for the session 2021-22.

CBSE’s Special Scheme for the 2021-22 Session

In its circular, CBSE has given three main pointers for the next session board examinations.

1. Academic session to be divided into 2 Terms with approximately 50% syllabus in each term:

The syllabus for the session 2021-22 would be divided into two terms after considering the interconnectivity of concepts and topics by the Subject Experts. The Board will conduct examinations at the end of each term on the basis of this division of syllabus.

2. The syllabus for the Board examination 2021-22 will be rationalized

Just like last year, the syllabus would be rationalized for the 2021-22 session as well. For academic transactions, CBSE mentioned, “schools will follow the curriculum and syllabus released by the Board vide Circular no. F.1001/CBSEAcad/Curriculum/2021, dated 31 March, 2021. Schools will also use alternative academic calendars and inputs from the NCERT on transacting the curriculum”.

3. Efforts to make Internal Assessment/ Practical/ Project work more credible and valid

CBSE is doing this to ensure fair distribution of marks. They would later release guidelines and a Moderation Policy for this.

Details of Curriculum Transaction for Schools

• Schools will continue to teach in distance mode till the authorities permit in-person mode of teaching in schools.
• Classes IX-X: Internal Assessment (throughout the year-irrespective of Term I and II) would include the 3 periodic tests, student enrichment, portfolio and practical work/ speaking listening activities/ project.
• Classes XI-XII: Internal Assessment (throughout the year-irrespective of Term I and II) would include end of topic or unit tests/ exploratory activities/ practical’s/ projects.
• Schools would create a student profile for all assessments undertaken over the year and retain the evidence in digital format.
• CBSE will facilitate schools to upload marks of Internal Assessment on the CBSE IT platform.
• Guidelines for Internal Assessment for all subjects will also be released along with the rationalized term wise divided syllabus for the session 2021-22. The Board would also.

Provide additional resources like sample assessments, question banks, teacher training etc. for more reliable and valid internal assessments.

Details for Term I Examinations

• At the end of the first term, the Board will organize Term I Examination in a flexible schedule to be conducted between November-December 2021 with a window period of 4-8 weeks for schools situated in different parts of the country and abroad. Dates for the conduct of examinations will be notified subsequently.
• The Question Paper will have Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) including case-based MCQs and MCQs on the assertion-reasoning type. The duration of the test will be 90 minutes and it will cover only the rationalized syllabus of Term I only (i.e., approx. 50% of the entire syllabus).
• Question Papers will be sent by the CBSE to schools along with a marking scheme.
• The exams will be conducted under the supervision of the External Center Superintendents and Observers appointed by CBSE.
• The responses of students will be captured on OMR sheets which, after scanning may be directly uploaded at the CBSE portal or alternatively may be evaluated and marks obtained will be uploaded by the school on the very same day. The final direction in this regard will be conveyed to schools by the Examination Unit of the Board.
• Marks of the Term I Examination will contribute to the final overall score of students.

Details for Term II Examination/ Year-end Examination:

• At the end of the second term, the Board would organize Term II or Year-end Examination based on the rationalized syllabus of Term II only (i.e., approximately 50% of the entire syllabus).
• This examination would be held around March-April 2022 at the examination centers fixed by the Board.
• The paper will be of 2 hours duration and have questions of different formats (case-based/ situation based, open-ended short answer/ long answer type).
• In case the situation is not conducive for normal descriptive examination a 90-minute MCQ based exam will be conducted at the end of Term II also.
• Marks of the Term II Examination would contribute to the final overall score.

Assessment/Examination as per Different Situations:

• In case the situation of the pandemic improves and students are able to come to schools or centers for taking the exams. Board would conduct Term I and Term II examinations at schools/centers and the theory marks will be distributed equally between the two exams.
• In case, the pandemic forces complete closure of schools during November-December 2021, Term II exams are held at schools or centers. The term I MCQ based examination would be done by students online/offline from home – in this case, the weightage of this exam for the final score would be reduced, and the weightage of Term II exams will be increased for declaration of the final result.
• In case, the pandemic forces complete closure of schools during March-April 2022, but Term I exams are held at schools or centers. Results would be based on the performance of students on Term I MCQ based examination and internal assessments. The weightage of marks of the Term I examination conducted by the Board will be increased to provide year-end results of candidates.
• In case, the pandemic forces complete closure of schools and Board conducted Term I and II exams are taken by the candidates from home in the session 2021-22. Results would be computed on the basis of the Internal assessment/Practical/Project Work and Theory marks of Term-I and II exams taken by the candidate from home in Class X / XII subject to the moderation or other measures to ensure validity and reliability of the assessment.

CBSE further added, “in all the above cases, data analysis of marks of students will be undertaken to ensure the integrity of internal assessments and home-based exams”. CBSE has initiated this scheme in order to save students from the loss of studies due to the unpredictability of Covid-19. April Covid wave resulted in the Cancellation of Board exams and CBSE believes this new scheme would help them to confront the previous issues.

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