CBSE will trial open book exams

CBSE will trial open book exams: You can take books and notes in it, there will be a test of understanding of the topic and practical knowledge.

CBSE Board is now going to conduct Open Book Exam (OBE) trial for classes 9 to 12. There are preparations to conduct open-book tests in some schools in November this year for English, Mathematics, Science for classes 9 and 10 and for English, Mathematics and Biology for classes 11 and 12.

What is open-book exam?
Open-book exams allow students to carry and refer to their own notes, books, or other study materials during the exam. However, OBE is not easier than the normal exam. These exams are often more difficult.

This is because in open-book exams, the student’s ability to remember is not assessed, but the understanding and practical knowledge of a subject or topic is tested. The examiner does not give marks to those answers which are written after looking at the book, rather marks are given to those answers which reflect the intelligence of the student. For example, if students copy the paragraph written by teachers in the notebook as it is, they will not get marks, whereas if they take ideas from it and write it in a better way in their own language, then they will get marks.

OBE will start from this year itself
The first trial of OBE is proposed to be conducted in November-December this year. After this the board will decide whether it should be implemented in all its schools for classes 9 to 12 or not. Through this, students’ thinking skills, application, analysis, critical and creative thinking and problem solving ability will be tested.

DU will prepare the format
CBSE plans to complete the design and development of the OBE pilot by June. This format will be prepared from Delhi University. DU started the open book test in August 2020 during the Corona pandemic. However, this had spoiled the education calendar.

Students have protested against OBE
DU students had approached the Delhi High Court against OBE on the grounds that it would be discriminatory to those who do not have access to internet and basic infrastructure. However, the High Court allowed DU to conduct OBE for final year graduate and post graduate students.

Regular students were given one hour to complete the exam and an additional hour to scan the answer sheets and upload them, while disabled students got 6 hours for the exam.

High-quality books will be ready
Preparation of special books for OBE was also considered in the Governing Body meeting. The board discussed the need for such books to ensure that students understand this new format of the exam.

During the meeting, it was also proposed that OBE should be done for teachers first. This will also help teachers to understand the exam and prepare study material for it.

CBSE will conduct board exams twice a year
From the academic year 2025-26, students of class 10th and 12th will get the option to appear in the board exam twice a year. This was announced by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on 19 February. Also, according to the new curriculum framework brought in August 2023, students will be ensured adequate time and opportunity to perform well. Read full news here

There will be 10 subjects in 10th, 6 subjects in 12th.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has proposed to make changes in the education structure for high school and higher secondary. Under this, now three languages will be taught in class 10th instead of two languages. These will include at least two native languages (like Hindi, Marathi). The board has sent this proposal to the HRD Ministry for approval.

In this proposal, class 10th students will now be required to pass 10 subjects instead of 5. Till now 10th students are required to study 5 subjects.

Similarly, in the proposal given for class 12th, students will have to study two languages instead of one. These should include at least one native Indian language. This means that before doing Bachelor, it will be necessary to pass the exam in 6 subjects instead of 5.

It is necessary to pass in all 10 subjects
In this proposal, copies of the examinations of three languages, mathematics and computational thinking, social science, science and environment education will be checked at another centre. Both internal and external exams will be taken in Art Education, Physical Education and Business Education. To reach the next class, students will have to pass all 10 subjects.

Credits will be given on study hours
CBSE has proposed a formal credit system in the standard school curriculum. According to the formal credit system, now the study hours of the students will be converted into credit. Currently there are 1200 National Learning Hours (study hours) in an academic year. The credits received by the students as per the classes attended will be added to the Academic Bank of Credit.

CBSE will conduct board exams twice a year
From the academic year 2025-26, students of class 10th and 12th will get the option to appear in the board exam twice a year. This was announced by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on 19 February. Also, according to the new curriculum framework brought in August 2023, students will be ensured adequate time and opportunity to perform well. Read full news here

There will be 10 subjects in 10th, 6 subjects in 12th.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has proposed to make changes in the education structure for high school and higher secondary. Under this, now three languages will be taught in class 10th instead of two languages. These will include at least two native languages (like Hindi, Marathi). The board has sent this proposal to the HRD Ministry for approval.

In this proposal, class 10th students will now be required to pass 10 subjects instead of 5. Till now 10th students are required to study 5 subjects.

Similarly, in the proposal given for class 12th, students will have to study two languages instead of one. These should include at least one native Indian language. This means that before doing Bachelor, it will be necessary to pass the exam in 6 subjects instead of 5.

It is necessary to pass in all 10 subjects
In this proposal, copies of the examinations of three languages, mathematics and computational thinking, social science, science and environment education will be checked at another centre. Both internal and external exams will be taken in Art Education, Physical Education and Business Education. To reach the next class, students will have to pass all 10 subjects.

Credits will be given on study hours
There will be 7 subjects in 11th-12th
For classes 11th and 12th, instead of five subjects (1 language and 4 optional subjects), students will have to study 2 languages and 5 optional subjects. One of the two languages must be native language.

Let us tell you that a notice was issued by the board on July 21, 2023, in which CBSE had started teaching native language as a subject option till class 12th in schools along with English medium.

Important for native language students
CBSE had said that it has taken this decision in view of the National Education Policy 2020, so that emphasis can be laid on studying the language for the students. This is being considered as an initiative to teach many other languages along with the native language to the students.

The CBSE Board had said to consider this in a notice on July 21. Only after this, the Education Ministry had issued guidelines to NCERT to prepare syllabus in 22 languages.

Every year more than 30 lakh students appear in the 10th-12th class examination of CBSE board.

CBSE changed the grading system two months ago
CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) had announced two months ago that it will not release percentage i.e. aggregate marks in the results of class 10th and 12th board exams. Apart from this, division (first, second or third division) and distinction will also not be released along with the result from next year. Now only CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) i.e. grade points will be available in the result.