After announcing the postponement of class 12 board exams and cancellation of class 10 exams, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to put greater emphasis on competency-based education (CBE).

The board is initiating changes in the examination and assessment practices for the year 2021-22. While the overall marks and duration of examination shall remain the same, a greater number of competency-based questions or questions that assess the application of concepts in real-life/ unfamiliar situations will be part of the question paper.

“The pandemic has exposed the education system to various challenges and opportunities. We are trying to shift the focus from assessment of learning to assessment for learning. Students must be equipped with the ability to solve problems and assessment must shift from testing primarily rote memorisation skills to one that is more formative, is more competency-based, promotes learning and development for our students, and tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity,” says Biswajit Saha, director, Training and Skill Development, CBSE.

As per the revised scheme, there will be 20 per cent competency-based questions and 20 per cent objective questions for class 11 and 12 as compared to 20 per cent objective-type questions. Competency-based questions can be in the form of multiple-choice questions (MCQs), case-based questions, source-based integrated questions or any other type. Presently, 70 per cent of questions are short answer/ long answer type but now it will be reduced to 60 per cent.

“The race for completing the syllabus and achieving the highest marks is still visible in our system. We have changed the pattern for class 9-12 as most schools use a similar evaluation strategy for performance analysis for class 1-8. There will be ripple effects of the move and the system is expected to change positively over time and competency-based education will become the prime focus,” Saha added.

For class 9-10, a minimum of 30 per cent will be competency-based questions, objective questions will be 20 per cent and the remaining 50 per cent short answer/ long answer type questions. As per the current scheme, class 10 question papers have 20 per cent objective-type questions, 20 per cent case-based/source- based integrated questions 20 per cent and 60 per cent short answer/ long answer-type questions.

The board had earlier announced the class 10 exams 2021 have been cancelled and the students will be assessed based on objective criteria, which is under process at the moment. Meanwhile, class 12 have been rescheduled and the new datesheet will be announced once the situation pertaining to COVID-19 improves across the country.