One board exam pattern or split terms: CBSE yet to decide for Class 10, 12 exams for next year

New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is yet to decide whether the 2022-23 academic session will remain split into two terms for Classes 10 and 12 or will it revert to the single board exam pattern, officials said on Friday. Bifurcating the academic session, holding two term-end exams and rationalising the syllabus were part of the special assessment scheme for the board examinations for Classes 10 and 12 in 2021-22 announced by the CBSE as a "one-time measure" in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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However, whether the same system will continue for the new academic session or not is yet to be decided. "The decision to conduct the board exams in two terms was taken in view of the unprecedented situation posed by the pandemic, where for the 2020-21 academic session, the students had to be assessed using an alternative assessment scheme as no board exams could be conducted.

The move was announced as a one-time measure," CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said. "The decision about whether it will be extended to the new academic session or not will be taken in the due course of time," he added.

Under the split-term system, the first-term board examination was held in December last year and the second-term examination is scheduled to start from April 26. Bhardwaj said the feedback received from schools and other stakeholders about the split term was not very encouraging as they found conducting the board exams twice a year a "cumbersome" process.

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If the board exams are conducted in November, as is done in the split-term pattern, all the formalities have to be completed by July. The rising number of COVID-19 cases has sparked concerns of possible school closures yet again even as experts have warned against the long-term learning losses caused by a prolonged closure. Several schools in Delhi-NCR have started closing specific classes or wings where students or staff members have been found infected with Covid.